Warren County seeing improvements coming to volunteer fire departments

WARREN COUNTY, Ky. – Warren County’s population is quickly expanding, and with it is the need for keeping the volunteer fire departments that dot the county up to date with the best equipment and training to provide fast action to emergencies across the county.

Warren County Fiscal Court has taken a large step forward this summer, spending over $270,000 providing equipment such as boots, helmets, tools and other items to the local departments. Equipment, though, isn’t the only need as more firefighters are needed, especially during the peak hours. Now the county is taking a new approach, to provide the best coverage during these peak hours.

“We are going to be working to implement the part-time staffing model to where they will be available, as early as Aug. 4. Staffing two stations, and then we’re going to, every month, we’re going to add two more stations to we were we will optimally have 23 firefighters working throughout the county, each day Monday through Friday,” said Warren County fire coordinator Bill Rector.

The future is always in mind, though, when it comes to firefighting, and soon, Warren County will be looking to add to its support structure. This will allow the county to provide the best training while supporting the volunteers needed to keep the community safe.

“We then intend to start hiring, full time firefighters in this supervisory capacity. So, kind of, you know, common term would be a battalion chief, or captain, we look to hire a couple of those to help build the system out and to support the volunteer structure. So if we can take some of the, the training requirements, and mold that in to make it more Warren County specific while also providing the support behind the scenes, it will help the volunteer participation flourish while also ensuring coverage, during the daytime hours of decrease staffing,” Rector said.

While we’re only in the beginning stages of this process, Rector says there is already evidence that this plan is having a positive effect on Warren County residents.

“The tangible results that the citizens can see already exist, and they are going to see more tangible results in the near future. They’re going to see a quicker response during daytime hours with more qualified individuals. And then nights and weekends will remain 100% volunteer. And we’re going to continue to support them in the same way that we have been before. So while there is an increase in the financial demand, it is reasonable to think that the citizens will see the return on that investment,” Rector said.

Also coming will be trucks built specifically to handle field and brush fires that are known to pop up during this time of the year. Rector said those are a bit further down the line, but the public can expect to see them.

This is only the beginning of a major plan to revitalize the county volunteer departments across Warren County, and much more is expected to come in the months and years to follow.