Video: Changes Are Coming For Some Webster County Fire Departments

WEBSTER COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Changes are coming for some of the fire departments in Webster County.

Starting next week, the Bellefontaine and Walthall Volunteer Fire Departments will merge.

It’s all to better the community, and bring more benefits to the area.

“Due to this being a volunteer corporation, you run into situations where your manpower is not as strong as it is in certain areas as it is others, and so what we’re going to do is to combine these two departments, and it’s going to make us a stronger force for the community,” says Walthall Fire Chief Casey Henderson.

Consolidation means more ground to cover, but more firefighters to help.

“Thirty-five guys with over 80% of our department being certified firefighters, the rest being trained in emergency medical response, so it’s going to be a huge benefit to everybody, whether it’s an accident, fire, or medical situation.”

The move will help the county effort to get new fire trucks in each station, and making things cheaper for homeowners.

“Hopefully, whenever we begin to expand out to this other district, and people in the Bellefontaine, Cadaretta, and Spring Hill community, that it will extend their insurance rating out that way, and will also save homeowners on their insurance per year.”

Merging not only means more manpower, but more money to get the job done.

“You have a lot more equipment, and like one station might have something the other one don’t, and it just helps out to have a lot more equipment access,” says Webster County Fire Coordinator, Barry Rushing.

Chief Henderson will now be over both stations, and he wants the community to understand something.

“We don’t want anybody to feel like we’re trying to take over a certain area, or anything like that, we’re combining. There’s still going to be fire coverage and everything else there. We just really need everybody to back us and support us, and it would be great for our guys to have that support.”

Each community will still have their own stations.

The one in Bellefontaine will be changed to Walthall Fire Station #2.