Any time a call comes in about a motor vehicle crash, first responders spring into action. Whether it’s local law enforcement or a state trooper who dashes to the scene, there also will be a fire truck or rescue squad that responds as well.
Such was the case Wednesday when more than 20 emergency type vehicles were on the scene of an accident on Spring Valley Road.
Vance County Fire Chief Chris Wright was on his way from his home to the gym for his regular workout when the call came in, so he arrived in his personal vehicle.
Wright told WIZS News that there was a large presence and response to the scene, including rescue squad vehicles to the fire department, sheriff’s office and the State Highway Patrol.
By the time Wright arrived, the Extrication Team had begun the process of removing the victim from what was left of the car.
Some of those vehicles have specialized equipment needed for such things as extrication, Wright said. And it means that emergency vehicles, over the years, have gotten bigger as a result.
It’s important to have the most up-to-date equipment possible for first responders to be able to do their jobs, and Wright said it’s also important to have a place that can house those vehicles when they’re not in action.
He said he’s pleased that County Manager Jordan McMillen, Finance Director Katherine Bigelow and the Vance County Board of Commissioners are at least beginning to plan for construction of a new fire department. The commissioners, at their regular meeting earlier this month, approved reallocating $4.5 million to the capital improvement fund to address several projects, one of which is a new fire department. The commissioners identified a new public safety center as one of its five priorities at their recent planning retreat.
“There’s definitely been a need over the last years,” Wright told John C. Rose in a phone interview that was recorded for Thursday’s Town Talk. With the increase in staff, as well as housing fire and EMS in one space, and the number of vehicles for each group, there simply isn’t adequate space for all.
The building was completed in 1960 and added on to in the early 1990’s to provide two additional vehicle bays.
According to Wright, the doorways to the vehicle bays aren’t tall enough to accommodate newer-model vehicles. The way vehicles being built now , “we almost have to have them specially built,” he noted. That’s just one issue facing him and his department – having to spec out vehicles that will fit – literally – in the facility.
In this time of preliminary planning, there are many factors to consider, Wright said, including whether to continue to house EMS and the fire department together or have them in separate spaces.
He said county officials are now beginning to look at land and different models of buildings as they discern the planning process.
It could take a couple of years, or as many as three years, he said, but he hopes that by the time it’s completed, Vance County will have a facility it can be proud of and one that can be a resource to the community it serves.
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