SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — Sumner County's nine volunteer fire departments are getting more money, but questions remain about how to fund them in the years ahead as the county grows and emergency call volumes rise.
The Sumner County Commission approved $100,000 for each volunteer department, up from $24,000.
The equipment challenges facing those departments are significant. Across all 9 departments, 16 of 19 fire trucks are past their recommended service life of 15 years. Some are three decades old. Outfitting a single firefighter with SCBA gear — which has a recommended service life of 10 years — costs $10,000 per firefighter.
Chief Chad Fresen of the Gallatin Volunteer Department said the funding increase is a significant improvement. He said one station in the county operates without running water or a bathroom, with volunteer firefighters working to keep aging equipment operational.
"Every day the price of firefighting is increasing more and more because of the equipment and such. We're actually trained exactly like a city fire department," Fresen said.
Fresen said a single repair can wipe out a department's entire budget.
"We had to have the pump replaced and it was $44,000 to get the pump replaced," Fresen said.
Call volume has also been climbing.
"We went from 600 calls up to 800 calls. So it's getting busier and busier every year," Fresen said.
Grants and fundraisers can help offset costs, but neither is guaranteed.
County Commissioner Matthew Shoaf said the county must find a more stable path forward.
"What we're doing is not sustainable," Shoaf said.
Shoaf said the county faces a choice between continuing to support volunteer departments or creating a countywide fire service with its own dedicated funding source.
"There is very little or no disagreement that the volunteer fire departments provide an important service and that they need adequate funding for it. No one disagrees on that. What people disagree on is the sustainability of it," Shoaf said.
Fresen said the additional funding will make a direct difference for residents who call for help.
"It'll help out tremendously to get equipment caught up that we need that's been outdated," Fresen said.
Do you live in Sumner County? Are you a volunteer firefighter or someone who depends on these departments in an emergency? We want to hear from you. Watch the full video report above and share your thoughts on the future of fire protection in your community. Reach out directly to reporter Kim Rafferty at kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com
In this article, we used artificial intelligence to help us convert a video news report originally written by Kim Rafferty. When using this tool, both Kim and the NewsChannel 5 editorial team verified all the facts in the article to make sure it is fair and accurate before we published it. We care about your trust in us and where you get your news, and using this tool allows us to convert our news coverage into different formats so we can quickly reach you where you like to consume information. It also lets our journalists spend more time looking into your story ideas, listening to you and digging into the stories that matter.
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