Keeping us safe

 

Goochland Fire-Rescue trains on ladder truck and pumper

Headline grabbing devastation caused by Hurricanes Helen and Milton and Los Angeles fires seems far away. The recent water crisis that briefly affected some Goochland residents was over quickly. But if something more serious happened closer to home is Goochland ready to respond?

Local disasters tend to be weather related like the 2022 ice storm. In general, local emergency response opened shelters for residents without power, worked with VDOT and power companies to clear fallen trees, and closed flooded roads.

As our county grows, emergency response becomes more complicated. The contribution to both public safety and fiscal prudence made by the dedicated intrepid fire-rescue volunteers from all walks of life, who, for more than 70 years, gave freely of their time talents, and treasure to save lives and protect property in Goochland County cannot be overstated.

However, times change.  Fewer people are willing or able to undertake essentially a second unpaid job as a fire-rescue volunteer. In 2009, the county began hiring career personnel to staff our fire-rescue stations and supplement volunteers, especially during weekday, daytime hours. Minimal 24/7 staffing of all stations only began last year. Goochland still has well-trained and dedicated fire-rescue volunteers whose contribution to public safety is a treasure. Sadly, there are not enough to meet the ever-increasing demand for service.

At their March 4 meeting, Goochland supervisors heard from D. E. “Eddie” Ferguson, Jr. Chief of Fire-Rescue and Emergency Management about the needs of his department.

Ferguson’s presentation begins at about the 4-hour mark on the archived video, which is available on the county website https://www.goochlandva.us/ under the “watch county meetings” tab.

He outlined the functions of the department, which includes emergency medical services, fire suppression, all hazard response, as well as response, mitigation, and recovery from disasters.

The past year, reported Feguson, his department responded to 4,867 incidents, about an 11 precent increase over the previous year. In addition to the county population of approximately 27k, fire-rescue services care for those who work and travel through Goochland. Incidents on Interstate 64 and state route 288, as well as new commercial development including and especially Project Rocky, the Amazon distribution center under construction on Ashland Road, add to the workload.

Ferguson spoke to the increasing call duration. The average EMS call logs 45 miles. Wall time, the period an EMS crew waits to transfer a patient to a hospital emergency department, has continued to increase making the crew unable to respond to other calls. In the past five years ambulance transports have increased 56 percent. A few months ago, a fuel tanker truck overturned on I64 resulting in an eight-hour incident, preventing fire-rescue personnel on scene from responding to other calls.

Goochland fire-rescue trains to respond to a wide variety of emergencies ranging from farm equipment mishaps to hazardous spills on roadways to water rescue on the James River, which forms the county’s southern boundary.

Ferguson said, knowing what is coming in the way of development, that in FY25 he requested 36 positions, 12 of which were approved. During the FY26 budget process, Ferguson requested authorization of 24 new positions, 12 to be funded by Goochland, the remainder by a SAFER (staffing for adequate fire and emergency response) grant from FEMA. As presented on February 18, the proposed budget included no new people despite the addition of another station to the department. He also asked for funding of officer positions. All to prepare for the future as it takes about a year to fully train new hires.

He also asked for salary stipends for advanced life support providers, whose retention is vital to the success of the organization. “Our paramedics and intermediate EMS providers operate with the most advanced patient care protocols made possible by (Goochland emergency medical directors) Drs. Anderson and Lloyd. We have an advanced airway protocol that other jurisdictions, who pay more, that call us to perform. I want to make sure that we can retain our intermediate (life support providers) and paramedics because there is no other specialty service that is in more demand than advanced life support.”

The goal is to have five firefighter EMTs on duty at each station except stations 2 and 8. Crozier does not have the septic field capacity to support more than two people, station 8, currently under construction, will be able to accommodate more when finished.

Currently, fire-rescue has 84 providers, but, due to vacation, leave, and training, all are not available for duty all the time, so a relief factor is built into staffing. Ferguson explained that OSHA has minimal staffing requirements for structure fires if no rescue is involved, which also increases the need for more positions.

He said that due to multiple calls, a Goochland engine, with a sole firefighter, recently responded to a fire alarm call at Avery Point where hundreds of people were evacuating a building. This could lead to a false perception that fire-rescue is unable to adequately respond when needed.

Most of Goochland is not served by fire hydrants, so every drop of water used in fire suppression must be transported to the scene via a water shuttle operation, which requires a lot of people.

Residents complain about finding stations, whose duty crew is responding to a call, empty when they go there for help during a medical emergency.

Ferguson explained that larger, complicated buildings require more people to adequately address fires.  He said that at buildout Avery Point will include a skilled nursing care facility, which will add at least one call per bed every year, to the 80 to 100 calls per year currently being generated there.

Ferguson said that he and his staff recently toured an Amazon facility in Henrico. The Ashland Road facility is expected to be 3.1 million square feet, 105 feet high with five floors and a thousand workers, equipped with robots powered by lithium-ion batteries, and accessed by hundreds of trucks daily. He said, after talking with agencies in places with similar facilities, that Project Rocky by itself will generate another 100 calls annually, 75 for EMS. He also said that because of the size of the building and number of workers, any fire needs to be caught early.

“I could not find a department that sends less than 29 firefighters on a first alarm to an Amazon facility, more than we have on duty county wide.” He contended that Project Rocky is larger than many other Amazon facilities and that Goochland needs to be ready.

Ferguson said he believes that the Amazon structure will include “the absolute best fire protection features” in building construction to catch or prevent fires.

In response to a question about fire blankets used to extinguish lithium-ion fires, Ferguson said the department has two car sized blankets and that essentially smother the fire. Capital One has deployed several of the devices in the parking deck at its West Creek campus.

Ferguson explained that an issue with lithium-ion batteries is “thermal runaway” that these batteries burn extremely hot. When asked about a proposed battery storage facility on Old Mill Road near Crozier, Ferguson said that he has serious concerns about the site, which has no water and is in an agricultural area.

He said that if those batteries were to catch fire they could burn for an extended period of time, from hours to weeks, and that those blazes must be watched to ensure they do not spread. Fumes would be toxic and runoff from fire suppression could be more damaging to the environment than letting it burn.

Ferguson said he believes that battery storge facilities do not catch fire often but still has serious concerns about the proposal.

The absence of new fighter EMS positions in the proposed FY26 given the type and extent of new construction on the horizon is a mystery. Hopefully, this will be addressed at town hall meetings later this month.