Rockwell FD to remain primary municipal department
Published 12:08 am Saturday, April 5, 2025
ROCKWELL — Following lengthy discussions about the status of the Rockwell Fire Department and discussion about potentially contracting out coverage to outside departments, the Rockwell Board of Aldermen have announced their intention to stay with the status quo.
The town released an official statement on Wednesday from the mayor and board of aldermen on the issue, which is recorded below:
“The Mayor and Board of Aldermen would like to express our sincere appreciation to the Rockwell Rural Fire Department for their collaboration in exploring a potential expansion of their coverage to include the Rockwell City Fire District. After careful consideration, we have determined that the Rockwell City Fire Department will continue to serve as the primary fire protection provider for our town, with the continued support of the Rockwell Rural Fire Department and other neighboring agencies through mutual aid agreements.
“Our top priority remains the safety and well-being of our residents, and we are committed to making decisions that best serve the Town of Rockwell. We are grateful for the trust our community places in us and appreciate the dedication of all our local fire departments in ensuring the highest level of emergency response and protection.
Thank you for your ongoing support.”
The statement follows a months-long discussion by the board about whether the town should continue with its current fire department or contract out fire coverage of the town to the Rockwell Rural Fire Department.
The idea was initially floated in February during a specially-called meeting between the board and Rockwell Rural officials.
Following the meeting, members of the Rockwell Fire Department took up their cause at the next regularly-scheduled board of aldermen meeting, filling the board room to say that they felt the board was having secret conversations about axing the department.
“I think one of the issues that all of us (have), is that we don’t know exactly what (Rockwell Rural) proposed. I had a short meeting with (Mayor Pro Tem Chris Cranford), and we just have a lot of questions ourselves,” said Linker at the regular March meeting.
The conversation was continued at the aldermen’s budget workshop meeting on March 26, when the main points of discussion were ways that the town could cut costs. The proposal presented by the Rockwell Rural Fire Department provided a cheaper option than the Rockwell Fire Department’s budget.
“When we talk about cutting our payroll or cutting employees who are working for department that has been around for 70 years, I would exhaust every opportunity, and if we have close to $3 million sitting in the bank, why don’t we start appropriating (items) that we can pay for out of the budget before we discuss the fire department,” said Alderman Dillon Brewer at the budget meeting.
As part of that meeting, the aldermen and Linker discussed plans to increase the town’s class three ISO rating, with several aldermen stating that the police department had been the focus of recent public safety expenditures, leaving the fire department’s staffing lacking.
Linker’s plan primarily focused on the categories where the department struggled the most in water supply, personnel training and availability of company personnel.
The water supply plan consisted primarily of dividing the town into different districts. When fires occur in the districts with the least water supply, the department would automatically set up water shuttles for the incident.
Two low water supply areas of particular concern that Linker said the department needed to focus on were on Gold Hill Avenue in front of the former Sunshine Manufacturing building and Depot Street near Bethel Baptist Church.
For training, Linker said one of Rockwell’s new priorities would be utilizing other departments’ training more often and coordinating training with other departments, along with making sure to hold personnel accountable for their internal training requirements.
Linker said that the town also needed to improve its score for both its average on-duty and on-call personnel. To do so, the proposed budget includes one new full-time firefighter. Linker is also applying for a FEMA grant that would pay another firefighter’s salary for four years.
To increase the department’s on-call hours, Linker included a new benefit in the budget, which states that any firefighters who return for a structure fire call within the city limits get a minimum of three hours pay for part-time employees or 4.5 hours for full-time employees, providing more of an incentive for firefighters to respond to calls while not on duty.
The town has another meeting scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m., with the aldermen planning to discuss the fire department and budget plans.