WALHALLA — The old adage, “Where there is smoke, there is fire,” may or may not hold true when it comes to rural fire operations in Oconee County.

After nearly two years, the transition to a rural fire system operating under the umbrella of Oconee County Emergency Services (OCES) seems to have remained tumultuous. Whether that effort is failing, under siege or just the victim of bickering by a handful of dissident firefighters depends on whom you talk to on any given day of the week.

This past Monday night, county fire chiefs came together for a monthly meeting. According to reports, two engaged in a shouting match, at least one walked out and a handful left unhappy when asked to file three years’ worth of reports within two weeks.

One chief, who asked to remain anonymous, called it “a typical meeting.”

“It seems like there have always been four or five fire departments in the county — and they are never the same ones — who are unhappy about something,” said Bobby Williams, an employee of the Emergency Services Department and the current president of the fire chiefs’ organization.

A Long History

Old-timers in the fire service say that grumbling and inter-department squabbling go back well beyond the establishment of the county’s current Emergency Services Department two years ago. However, many of those same veterans agree that communication between OCES and local volunteers could be much better than it is.

“There has never been good communication with the volunteers,” said Fair Play Fire Chief Larry Wilkerson, the county’s senior chief with 16 years service. “They are the guys who should be driving the ship or at least think they are driving the ship. They (county officials) need to make sure they are on board. You can’t leave them kicking and screaming.

“This has been a problem in the past, and is in this administration as well,” he added.

To an extent, Williams agreed.

“These guys (volunteers) have had a lot shoved down their throats the last two years, I mean, compared to the way things have been done for 30 years,” he said.

The roots of the rural fire system run deep. Many of the smaller departments have built their own buildings and paid for them with an ongoing series of bake sales and raffles. Their halls are community centers, where families frequently gather and hang out. According to some chiefs, it is the personal feelings tied to those roots that are at the heart of the struggle to accept change.

“A lot of them are just bucking the system,” said C.G. Phillips, chief of the Long Creek volunteers, one of the smallest units in the county. “They just have to give it time.

“I don’t know if they see it as a threat or what,” he added, saying that former County Administrator Tom Hendricks fueled the fires of distrust when he suggested that the county would have to hold title to all the buildings owned by rural departments.

A change of course

The current administration, led by County Council Chairman George Blanchard, Administrator Dale Surrett and OCES Director Rodney Burdette quickly backed away from that position, but suggestions in the fall of 2006 that each department would get cash funds from a special tax millage, also contributed to unrealized expectations. Instead of doling out cash, the county organization has used some funds to meet gear and equipment needs across the county, needs that have varied greatly among departments.

For some, like Long Creek, where the needs were greater, the revised plan has produced a windfall of in-kind purchases, and Phillips is an apostle of the system.

“It’s the best thing to happen to us in years,” he said, adding that full-time employees of newly created Station 21, the county’s own fire department, have helped the department with hose checks and will be helping with pump checks in the near future.

Mountain Rest Fire Chief Bill Simmons echoed Phillips.

“I don’t have a problem,” he said. “I call them, and they call me.”

“I think it’s personality conflicts,” he added, “and some of it goes back to when they said they were going to take our property. We’re moving forward in my opinion. It’s like life; it doesn’t always go your way. When you’re dealing with this many people, they don’t always look at it the same way.”

The man at the helm

At the center of the communication’s storm is Burdette, the man Hendricks hired to put the new system together. For his part, he said his door is always open and that he and his staff have attempted to address any concerns brought to them.

“There are a couple (of chiefs) who don’t want to seem to work with our agency,” he said. “I’m willing to work with everyone. That’s my directive.”

As far as Monday’s reportedly raucous chiefs’ meeting, Burdette said some of the issues raised were good but some were “the same old stuff over and over again.”

Keowee Fire Chief Richie Caudill was vocal at Monday’s meeting but claims he was only trying to get answers to questions.

“I don’t mind addressing issues, and questions need to be answered,” he said. “I’ve only been here since February, but it seems like people get awfully defensive when you ask them questions, like why is the money not being spent by the budget.”

Caudill said he asked what he considered a simple question about something going out for bid and was told that was not open to the public. As for providing input, Caudill said, “You might as well be talking to the wall.”

Some fire officials were reluctant to talk publicly for fear of retribution. Caudill, emphasizing that he was only speaking for himself, said he had never heard of any acts of retribution but said the county’s administration should be concerned that some people feel that way.

“If they (the county) had a better relationship, they (fire officials) wouldn’t feel that way,” Caudill said. “It shouldn’t be that way.”

Wilkerson said he believes Station 21 employees have helped out in numerous ways around the county. However, he thinks they should do more, spending more hours in volunteer departments than working 24/7 shifts and “chasing fire runs.”

“The volunteers would be terribly happy to have a guy in their station eight hours a day, doing hose checks, helping with paperwork, sweeping the station if need be,” he said, “rather than paying them to sleep.”

“The paid hands are needed but out at the station,” he added.

This week, chiefs were asked to provide three years worth of fire run reports, testing reports and other materials as part of an ISO study. Burdette said the information will help the county determine where it needs to improve to get better ISO ratings. Some chiefs said the demand couldn’t be met.

However, Phillips, Simmons and Wilkerson all said that, with computers, the information should not be hard to put together.

Future in question

Ultimately, whether the way Station 21 functions changes or whether Burdette remains the man at the top may be decisions made by County Council, a group that has heard plenty, according to Blanchard.

“I have some concerns about rural fire coordination and cooperation,” Blanchard said, “between the individual districts and between them and Rodney.”

Blanchard said he is dismayed that, two years into the effort, there is still a lack of acceptance in some quarters, especially among some of the chiefs.

“I think the top down communication is not what I had hoped for,” he said. “It is not good, and going the other way is even worse.”

Blanchard said he has spoken with three of the five Fire Commission members, two of his fellow council members and Surrett about what he sees as a bigger issue than communication: the overall synergy of the transition, which he dubbed “not good.”

“I’m not sure where it’s going from here,” he said. “I don’t want to dismantle the service and have said so publicly, but I’m not sure what we do next.”