After years of not having a proper board in place, residents in District 4, including the Plum Grove Community and the Town of Crawford, have made steps to increase fire services in their community. Under the supervision and encouragement of District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith and Lowndes County Fire Administrator Sammy Fondren, a new fire board for the district has been selected.
“We had approximately 30 people attend a meeting Tuesday to show their interest in this,” Smith said. “We now have a board in place and we want people to know we are moving forward.”
Smith said the event was facilitated by Gwen King and board members were selected by the community. The board members are King, Larry Caldwell, Delores Rice, Rosco Stallings,
J.D. Brooks and Shelia Boswell.
“There are a lot of needs in fire service including financial needs and policy needs,” said Smith. “This board will oversee all procedures and policies — each district has a set of by-laws. The board will assess the financial needs, training and equipment needs and the facility, as well.”
Although there have been fire boards before in District 4, Smith said there has not been an active one in the six years he has been in office. He also said Crawford has the oldest fire station in the county and the board will be addressing this issue as well.
“We have applied for a rural development community grant and we hope that one day we will be able to have some better facilities,” Smith noted. “The fire station in Crawford is in bad shape — there isn’t space for a truck nor is there proper space for training.”
Crawford Mayor Fred Tolon also praised the presence of a new board.
“This is definitely good for the community and it will help better address our needs with fire services,” Tolon said. “I’m very happy for our Fire Chief Willie Harris to finally have a board. He’s been doing this by himself for at least 10 years.”
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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