Cabarrus commissioners signal plan to disband Squad 410; fire marshal and chiefs urge reconsideration

Several Cabarrus County commissioners signaled they will move to disband County Squad 410, a county-level firefighting service squad, prompting an extensive exchange at the June 1 Board of Commissioners meeting between commissioners and County Fire Marshal Jacob Thompson.

Commissioner Wartman said he expected to make a motion at the next meeting to disband the squad, citing persistent staffing issues, duplication of resources and a multi-year review that had not produced an efficient long-term plan. "I plan on making the motion to disband it at our next meeting, and that's as transparent as I can possibly be," he told the board, adding the county plans to provide about five months' notice and severance for affected full-time staff while working to help employees find other local positions.

Those comments drew a long rebuttal from Jacob Thompson, the county fire marshal, who identified his statutory role advising the board on firefighting operations and urged commissioners to review the data and operational impacts before finalizing any decision. "As the fire marshall of this county...one of the mandated things...is to advise the board of commissioners on the firefighting operations of this county," Thompson said, adding that until the county can staff every station adequately, the squad’s extra personnel are "not a duplication — it's an addition." He warned that removing Squad 410 would reduce surge capacity for mayday and large incidents.

Other commissioners said the decision followed long internal review and closed-session work to find a fair approach and emphasized fiscal stewardship; several also said bias and social-media reporting had mischaracterized the intent. Commissioners described a range of proposals previously considered — placing squad staff on a county fire truck, collocating with municipal departments, or dividing personnel among stations — but said those options faced resistance or additional costs and that chiefs had not reached unanimous agreement on implementation.

The board and staff described a process of chief-level meetings and follow-up plans that, in commissioners’ view, left the county in limbo; staff said they had sought board consensus before investing in a formal rollout of a chiefs' committee and related agreements. Commissioners acknowledged frustration with both the lack of a single workable plan and with local chiefs’ resistance to some county proposals.

Thompson told the board he had repeatedly offered data, run-card adjustments and alternative models to improve response and that he had not been asked by commissioners to walk through operational metrics in detail. "I have not had a commissioner reach out to me and ask me, 'What does the data say?'" he said. "Nobody's asked us for truth or data or honesty."

Several commissioners said they will discuss the matter again at the June 15 meeting (item moved to action) and that staff will provide a reduction-in-force impact analysis and additional documentation in the interim. Commissioners also indicated they plan to provide five months' notice and a severance arrangement for full-time employees affected by an eventual disbandment.

What’s next: the item was placed on the June 15 action calendar so commissioners can vote after receiving additional written analysis and after receiving correspondence from fire departments and the public; staff will distribute a reduction-in-force impact analysis and the record of chiefs' meetings to the board prior to that meeting.