Commissioners hear that H Town’s volunteer fire district is overstretched; county may step in while town moves to hire paid chief

McCurtain County commissioners spent a large portion of a Sept. 24 meeting focused on urgent problems at the H Town volunteer fire department, including missing pension documentation, high monthly call volumes concentrated among a few volunteers, and debate over whether the district should become a paid or combination department.

Dian Jordan, mayor of Po Town, told the commissioners she has “had one of the firefighters who’s been a volunteer for 20 years and he’s ready to pull his retirement and apparently there are no records of him having [the paperwork], so that needs to be addressed.” County officials and the board’s legal adviser reiterated that pension enrollment and retirement forms must be completed by the firefighter, notarized and submitted by the fire chief to the pension board.

The meeting foregrounded operational strain. Multiple speakers said H Town’s volunteers are handling roughly 70 calls a month while the active roster has dwindled; one participant summarized the situation as “running 70-plus calls a month” and recommended the district move toward a paid or combination model. Commissioners reviewed a chiefs’ report showing some individuals logged far higher numbers of runs in the sampled period (one example cited was 74 runs for one volunteer and 62 for another), and attendees queried whether opportunities to respond were distributed equitably.

H Town leaders signaled concrete steps: a town official said the municipality is already interviewing applicants for a paid fire chief and expects final interviews within about 10 days, describing the town as “moving forward” to create a municipal paid department. County staff and commissioners discussed operational options if the town and county must exchange assets or staff — including contracting with the county fire department or the volunteer board formally dissolving and transferring apparatus to the city — but legal advisers said the statutory paths are constrained by state law.

Assistant district attorney counsel and others repeatedly referenced Title 19 and related state statutes governing county fire districts, noting there is no simple statutory device to convert a Title 19 department directly into a Title 11 municipal department. Counsel said the county commission can act as the appointing authority to fill a defunct board’s vacancies under the relevant statute so that a governing body exists while new local appointees are recruited.

Speakers also raised safety, equipment and infrastructure limits. Officials noted the district lacks municipal water systems capable of delivering the large fire flows cited (a figure raised in discussion was 4,500 gallons per minute) for some commercial or large residential structures, meaning staffing and mutual aid will affect outcomes in a major wildfire or structure fire. Presenters warned that relying solely on mutual aid from distant stations could cause critical delays in the first minutes of a large incident.

The commissioners asked the department for clearer documentation and standard operating procedures (SOPs) on issues such as when firefighters may take apparatus home and how paid-run reimbursements are handled. County representatives said any allowance for personnel to take vehicles off-site must be established by the volunteer board’s SOPs and cannot be used for personal gain.

No formal vote or ordinance was taken at the session. Commissioners said they had names of several district residents willing to serve on a board and indicated the county could appoint interim members to keep governance intact while the town and county continue negotiations. H Town officials said they will continue chief interviews and planning toward a paid or combination department to improve response reliability.

The hearing closed with commissioners and county staff asking departmental leaders to provide records and documentation (pension records, SOPs, financial books) so the county can evaluate governance, fiscal status and operational options.