PULASKI COUNTY, Va. – Pulaski County is investing in its emergency services by creating the first-ever paid fire-rescue department in the history of the county.
This comes after the approval of the FY 2025 budget by the Board of Supervisors, where half a million dollars will be designated to create eight new positions.
“This really goes hand and glove with our 40 by 30 initiative. We want to grow our populations by 40,000 people by 2030. That requires that next level first response,” said County Administrator, Jonathan Sweet.
Two separate studies were done to evaluate the county’s emergency services. One of those was conducted by Gannon Emergency Solutions.
“It was becoming more and more of a challenge for them to get folks to respond during those daytime hours. That was one of the most prominent concerns that came out of the studies,” said CEO of Gannon Emergency Solutions, Christopher Gannon.
These paid positions are not replacing volunteer firefighters. Volunteer firefighters will still run all calls, but paid firefighters will be there to respond during those challenging daytime hours.
Dublin Volunteer Fire Chief, Dean Russell said this change should be seen as a good thing.
“They should take it as a positive. More people to help with calls than we had before,” said Russell.
“The key thing is volunteers are still going to be running calls 24/7. The career staff is here to supplement volunteers. It will be the best for citizens of Pulaski County,” added Russell.
Not only will these paid positions help serve the people of Pulaski County, it will also better the volunteer programs.
“Our ambition once we have these people hired. To create standardization in policy, procedures and training, and singing from the same songbook,” said Gannon.
The goal is to hire for these positions in July.