Have been a volunteer, fire chief for 20 years. I been in the fire service, 25 years, but a chief, 20 years.
My dad was the Fire Chief at the volunteer department in yancey County. I was just kind of been in my blood the whole time I guess.
Well, we have certainly moved into the new facility, and we've been just getting set up and ready to move forward to that. We were in the other. So, for about 50 years, we tried to do this one, correct and everything set out for another year, I suppose. And so, I've been working with that, and we have recently lowered our rating to it. ISO class 4. We were 5. So we got our ISO, right. Okay. And that that takes a lot of work. those are the things. That I've been working on how so. Try to help that when we moved here and you build and we do a lot.
We outside facility open to some of the other groups like this sheriff's office. Police department. That agencies to do their training in that children because we might had a nice trainer. So I kind of schedule that stuff and keep all those things I landed as well. I Loan out my training room. It’s useful for other people.
I've got a lot of support from other people in particular, and the town council on that to give them credit for help for helping us did it very facility, which took a long time to get the sanding and everything said it. very helpful with that. and I'd have to give Montessor to people, I've been in the fire department. Here's the Into their guidance and support. And I had, we had a former cheese that worked for me. Part 10 and takes care of my retired members. Tony. encouraged me a lot. So, He was very helpful and then, of course, Danny day back to doctors that she before. Me, and, and he said, the groundwork for a lot of the things that we've been able to keep going. So, that's really him with a lot.
Charlie Easley, who was a past Chief , he’s retired now. You really just started a division about getting a new fire department years ago. We just kind of picked up and try to get going with it. I've said it was getting pretty run down so we'll be a facility that we carry on something.
Trying to keep up the training in, those kind of things. Well, the biggest challenge is branding on air department. Nowadays, ours is not really an exception is volunteers. They're just Getting tours. So really getting a A team together and getting people who want to join and be a part of something. Right? It is is kind of test these days. So recruitment vacation, The firefighters are always a challenge for volunteer departments today.
People don't realize that the state requires the same thing. For the volunteer department, they do for career department which I know the level of training, the same level of equipment that kind of thing in order to have. That's what sets the Raven regardless where your volunteer career. So right, right.
Well then one last thing. Yes, you don't get to these positions alone. It takes everybody in Your department together so well, have a lot of good people working with the years and a lot of good members or so, that's it.