At the halfway mark of 2008, the New Creek Volunteer Fire Department reported last week that it is on a pace to break the department's record for the the number of calls handled in one year.
As of June 24, the fire department had handled 370 emergencies. Only five years ago, it would have handled that many calls in an entire year.
A recent weekend offers a snapshot of New Creek's increasing workload.
From June 20 to 22, the department handled 17 emergency calls. Of the 17 incidents, 11 were EMS related, three special-service calls, and three calls ended with the unit being canceled before arriving on the scene. Both of the department's ambulances were in operation for most of the weekend, in some cases responding to a single incident with multiple injuries.
Incredibly, the average response time for these calls was just under six minutes. Think about that. Six minutes from dialing 911 to hearing an emergency siren arrive. Recalling the many second and third alerts that one will hear on a scanner through the course of the day, residents in the New Creek service area should count themselves fortunate indeed.
Beyond the response time, New Creek was also able to keep its station manned. In  all but one of the 17 calls, additional crews were held in station in case of a second emergency. And they're all volunteers, with families, homes and jobs they set aside to answer that alarm.
Monday's News-Tribune featured a front-page AP story on state and county officials struggling to find a way to adequately fund West Virginia's 424 volunteer fire departments in an era of skyrocketing gas prices and dwindling ranks of volunteers. State lawmakers said the problem should be addressed at the county level, while county officials said they had few options available for generating such revenue.
In other words, elected officials are playing a game of political football, and our volunteer fire and rescue personnel are caught in the middle. That’s inexcusable.
The New Creek activity report should serve as a reminder of how valuable our emergency-response volunteers are to communities throughout West Virginia. Beyond the cost of fuding paid squads, which would run into untold millions of dollars, these men and women provide a service that can literally mean the difference between life and death. More than just our gratitude, we owe these selfless public servants a commitment to do whatever it takes to ensure that all volunteer fire departments are adequately funded.