Montgomery County officials hear plea to boost funding, restore ambulance service for volunteer fire departments
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Summary
Leaders of Montgomery County's eight volunteer fire departments told commissioners their units have improved fire ratings but face rising costs, fewer volunteers and gaps in ambulance transport; commissioners said they will consider additional support during upcoming budget hearings.
Montgomery County commissioners heard an extended briefing from the Montgomery County Association of Volunteer Fire Departments on the status of the county's volunteer emergency-response system and requests for increased funding and equipment support.
The association's president, Tim Bowden, told the commission the county now has five class-4 departments and three class-5 departments after a recent Insurance Services Office evaluation and called that "an improvement." He said the departments answered 3,221 calls in 2024, of which 543 were fire calls and 2,678 were medical or EMS calls.
The distinction matters for grading: "Our ISO grading is only done on the fire calls. They do not grade on medical or EMS runs," Bowden said. He and other volunteers warned that the departments have lost personnel since the pandemic and that equipment and construction costs have risen sharply; Bowden gave an example that a truck ordered two years ago cost about $375,000 but would cost about $489,000 now.
Bowden asked the commission to increase annual support above the current level, which association members said has been $190,000 per year since 2009. The volunteer board packet included a proposal for a $600,000 increase; Bowden and other speakers said even a smaller increase would be helpful.
Commissioners acknowledged the request and the operational constraints facing volunteers. Chairman Doug Singleton said the commission would look for ways to help, noting budget hearings scheduled for the coming days. Sheriff Derek Cunningham said, "We're gonna address it during the budget hearings," and expressed support for the volunteer departments.
Speakers and volunteers also flagged that county volunteer departments do not currently provide patient transport and that ambulance response times to remote parts of the county can be long. Bowden and commissioners said the county has set aside American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to restore county ambulance service. A county official told the commission a bid for ambulance service was expected to be released by the end of the month.
County officials and volunteers also discussed training and staffing: Bowden said volunteer firefighters complete hundreds of hours of training on their own time, and that the county's volunteer ranks have declined from about 220 pre-2019 to about 194 professionally trained responders.
Commissioners and staff discussed grant-seeking and other options. Commissioner remarks said county grant staff could assist departments in applying for grants and that USDA funding has been used in some cases to build facilities. No formal funding decision was made; commissioners said the matter would be considered during budget hearings and that staff would continue grant outreach and bid work on ambulance services.
The presentation closed with commissioners and county staff committing to review the volunteer request during the county's budget process and to pursue grant opportunities and procurement for ambulance service.
For now, volunteers left the meeting with a pledge from commissioners to consider higher funding levels and to help pursue grants and procurements that could address equipment, station and ambulance-service gaps.
