Top officials of the Mount Mitchell Volunteer Fire Department are fending off efforts to dissolve the department and split up the territory.

The new president and fire chief blame the former directors who were ousted in October with the weeks of controversy. They’re also unhappy with the chief of a neighboring department.

“They’re trying to give the department away,” said Chief Max Deal. “We’re staying in business. We’re buying a new fire truck.”

The department has sections of both Rowan and Cabarrus counties. The department is located just inside the Cabarrus line on Old Concord-Salisbury Road. In Rowan, the district is bordered by Kannapolis, Landis and Bostian Heights. In Cabarrus, it is bordered by Kannapolis, Coldwater and Rimer fire districts.

The district’s service area includes Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium off I-85.

Although squeezed by annexation, the area is beginning to experience substantial residential growth.

Top officials in both counties admit there has been a lot of talk recently about disbanding the department.

Cabarrus Fire Marshal Greg Walters said he attended the annual meeting of the Mount Mitchell department when members voted out most of the directors (who favored disbanding the department) for a new group of leaders.

Later, a group from Mount Mitchell met with him and Cabarrus County Manager Frank Clifton, and Walters knew immediately that the group were those officials already voted out. He said they claimed that Rowan County was taking away the Rowan portion of the Mount Mitchell department, and they wanted to split up the Cabarrus portion and give it to neighboring departments.

Walters said they already had met with officials from three other Cabarrus departments, offering up chunks of the Mount Mitchell department.

“I was astounded,” said Walters.

He and Clifton told them they were no longer in control and had no authority to dissolve the fire department.

Since then, Walters said, he has met with the new board and officers. “They are in good shape, sound financially,” and upset about what’s been going on.

Rowan Fire Marshal Arthur Delaney said he plans to meet with the Mount Mitchell officials Monday night, and Rowan officials have no plans to change the fire district.

“They’ve apparently had some internal problems. Some former board members are going around saying they are going out of business,” said Delaney.

When Rowan officials heard that Mount Mitchell might be going out of business, Bostian Heights Chief Mike Zimmerman said he volunteered to put together a plan to serve the area if it happened.

The plan to divide up the Rowan portion of the Mount Mitchell department surfaced last week at a Landis Board of Aldermen meeting.

Landis Fire Chief Reed Linn presented a map with a large yellow line, indicating the area of the Mount Mitchell fire district that Landis was being asked to serve.

Linn said he knew little of what was going on with Mount Mitchell.

Landis resident Tony Corriher, who sells fire equipment, attended the Landis meeting and questioned whether the department was dissolving. Corriher said the department was getting ready to buy a truck from his company.

Linn said Thursday that Bostian Heights Fire Chief Zimmerman gave him the maps and asked him to make the presentation to the board.

Linn said that since that time he has talked with Mount Mitchell officials and Delaney, the Rowan fire marshal.

Linn said he has advised all of the aldermen to disregard the request and the map.

“I have apologized to Mount Mitchell,” said Linn,“We will provide assistance when they need it. I don’t want Landis caught in the middle.”

Delaney said that the plan will not be implemented. He admitted that talk of the plan steamrolled and problems spilled over two counties.

James Mann, the former president of the board who was voted out, was among those meeting with the Cabarrus officials. Mann admits he is pushing to disband the department.

He said Friday he wants to see Bostian Heights take over the Rowan portion, saying it will dramatically lower insurance rates for residents and businesses in the fire district. Mann said the old board’s support of disbanding the fire department was a factor in them being voted out.

Deal, the Mount Mitchell chief, and Ralph Beck, current president of the board of directors, criticize Zimmerman, saying he went to various departments and county officials pushing the breakup.

Beck, who is also a former fire chief, said he and Deal have repeatedly tried to talk with Zimmerman, who also president of the Rowan County Firemen’s Association. “He won’t respond,” said Beck.

Zimmerman said Friday that Bostian Heights has no problems with Mount Mitchell. He said his involvement came about because Mann and other Mount Mitchell directors came to Bostian Heights and said they wanted to dissolve.

“They came to me,” said Zimmerman. He said no one at the county level had heard anything from the new officers.

Deal and Beck say trouble has brewed in the Mount Mitchell department for several years.

They say that every year firefighters would ask for a new truck. Just before the election at the annual meeting, directors would promise a new truck or equipment.

“Every year, we’d spec out (do the specifications for) a new truck,” said Beck. “Once they got elected, they’d say ‘We aren’t buying any new truck.’ ”

“People just got fed up,” said Beck. He said that only three of the 13 directors were active in the fire department. Most of the board was voted out, and Beck moved from chief to president of the board.

Beck and Deal said the new board plans to order a $147,000, 2,000-gallon tanker and will pay cash. Officials said the final decision will be made at a fire department meeting Monday evening.

The new tanker will replace 1968 and ’73 models.

Beck and Deal say the department has plenty of volunteers — 28 firefighters currently — but lack of equipment can be a hindrance.

Beck said the department last purchased a new truck in 1979. In 1988, the department added a used truck.

Deal said a new tanker will help toward improving the department’s insurance rating, currently nine.

Mann counters that Bostian Heights already has a much better ISO rating. “People in Rowan should have to be out of their minds not to want to be in Bostian,” he said.

Mann stressed that the future of the fire departments is up to the county commissioners, not the fire departments’ boards of directors.

The current board president disputes the contention that Bostian Heights can do a better job.Beck said some residents near the Roy Cline Road area have a petition asking to move into Mount Mitchell, which can respond more quickly to that area.

Although Mount Mitchell isn’t one of the richest departments, it takes in tax money each year from Rowan and Cabarrus.

Last fiscal year, Rowan taxes going to the department totaled slight more $24,000, including $10,000 for the South Rowan Fire Service District. That district was created to provide fire protection to “no man’s land” areas between and around municipalities and other districts.

The department received slightly more than $32,000 from its service district in Cabarrus. The department has a 4-cent-per-$100-valuation tax rate.

Bostian Heights’ fire tax rate is 5 cents.

Chief Deal said he has talked with Rowan Commissioner Frank Tadlock, who assured him that commissioners know nothing of any attempt to break up the department or take away territory.

Rowan County Emergency Services Director Wayne Ashworth said the county is in the process of redoing fire contracts. He said it appears that Mount Mitchell is in business.