Department Services

•  Fire suppression is the foremost responsibility of the Department and consumes most of the man-hours and financial costs. In the event of a fire, the Department has four primary concerns:  to save lives; to extinguish the blaze; salvage any property not destroyed; and overhaul. These primary activities may be applied to either structure, vehicle, or wildland fires. Obviously the biggest concern during a fire is that someone could be trapped or physically unable to escape a burning building, vehicle, or area of an outdoor fire.  Search crews enter the area of operations simultaneously with fire attack crews in order to locate and rescue any persons in danger.  Our primary method of extinguishment is by the application of water and/or foam. Ideally, while certain crews are fighting the fire, others are beginning the process of salvaging any property threatened by fire, smoke, or water damage. This is accomplished by removing the property from the threatened area or by covering it with tarps or linen covers. Overhaul is the process of finding any smaller fires or hotspots and eliminating them. In structural firefighting, this often requires the removal of parts of the walls, floors, and ceilings.

• Life and Property Protection/Preservation goes hand in hand with fire suppression. However, the Department responds to other emergencies that may not necessarily involve fire suppression. Examples may include but are not limited to: Vehicle Crashes; Hazardous Material Incidents; Severe Weather Emergencies; Farm Machinery Accidents; Building Collapse; Search and Rescue and Flooding. In all these examples, the first priority is the preservation of life. This may include the rescue of trapped persons, or the evacuation of those that may be threatened.  Property protection is always secondary to the preservation of life and is usually accomplished by removing the property from the threatened area.  In cases of flooding, sandbags can be used to protect certain areas and we are often called upon to pump water out of flooded basements.  During vehicle crashes and haz-mat incidents, the threat may not be to any single piece of property, but to the environment itself.  In these cases, we attempt to contain and then control any threat.

• Emergency Medical Services is the newest service added to the department. In the event of a medical emergency, EMT’s and First Responder trained firefighters provides initial pre-hospital care such as basic life support and the stabilization of the patient until a transporting medical agency arrives on scene. We maintain communication with the incoming agency and advise them of the patient’s status and of any change in their condition. The department is equipped with an Automatic External Defibrillator, which when combined with CPR can dramatically increase the odds of surviving a heart attack. Considering our area is primarily rural and a rescue squad is generally at least 30 minutes away, this is a tremendous asset to our community.

• Mutual Aid to other agencies is provided when a neighboring public safety agency faces an emergency situation they are unable to handle alone. This may include actively assisting that agency at an emergency scene or standing by to cover their first due area while that department is engaged elsewhere. This also allows the sharing of resources to help lower the operating cost of emergency management. We have a close working relationship with our area Fire Departments, Rescue Squads, Law Enforcement agencies, and State agencies such as Virginia State Police, Medflight, VDOT and the Department of Forestry.

• Public Education is another tool to provide for our main objective, the preservation of life and property. Every October is Fire Prevention Month, during that time the Department usually holds an open house. This is a chance for the community to familiarize itself with the equipment the Department uses and how NOT to need our services. Fire prevention articles, pamphlets, and booklets are given away to help educate the public on what they can do at home to protect themselves. The department attends parades and events such as the Safe Kids Day program, to educate children about the dangers of fire, and in case of emergencies, to recognize firefighters as someone who is there to help. Websites such as Sparky the Fire Dog are used to help children learn about fire safety and prevention.

• Emergency Services include the use of the department buildings as an emergency shelter or as a distribution point of emergency supplies to the public. The property includes back-up electrical generators and the Town of Pamplin’s 75,000 gallon potable water tank giving the department an adequate supply of gravity feed water in the event of an emergency. We are able to provide shelter, electrical power, heat, water, and kitchen and bathroom faculties for as many as 150 persons. The Department also can be utilized to inform the community of important news or information though the public address systems on every apparatus.