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Sumner County committee backs adding fire coordinator to address volunteer staffing shortfalls
Summary
At a Jan. 13 ad hoc meeting, Sumner County committee members voted to include a recommendation to create a coordinator/administrator role to oversee volunteer fire departments after analysis showing current volunteer rosters may be insufficient; members also agreed to invite CTAS rep Mark Alley and local fire chiefs to the next meeting for data and guidance.
SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. — The Sumner County ad hoc committee on volunteer fire departments voted Jan. 13 to include in its forthcoming recommendation the creation of a coordinator or county fire administrator to improve oversight of the county’s volunteer fire departments and address staffing shortfalls.
The committee chair opened the study session by revisiting the "10 and 10" planning metric — commonly summarized as 10 responders within 10 minutes for structure-fire scenarios — and presented several directional formulas that used population, housing counts and 2024 call volumes to estimate minimum roster needs. The chair told members the estimates were “directional” and that some stations would need two to three times their current roster to meet the target.
Why it matters: County leaders said growth in several service areas and a high proportion of EMS calls (versus fire) mean current volunteer coverage could become unsustainable.…
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