news-record.com

The Oak Ridge Fire and Rescue Company decided Thursday to decline a federal grant that would have funded salaries for six more firefighters.

The grant requires matching funds that the fire district would not have been able to produce without a “significant tax increase,” the board said in a news release.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved the town for a $581,065 grant to hire the firefighters over the next five years.
When the fire company applied for the grant last year, it anticipated a 10 percent annual increase in revenue over the next five years. However, because of the economic recession, projected revenue for the next five years has dropped to 2 percent, according to the release.

“It is the opinion of the board that the benefit of the additional employees would not be equal to or greater than the added expense to the tax payers,” the release said. “The Oak Ridge Fire and Rescue Company will continue to seek cost savings in order to staff the department to the levels needed to adequately protect the citizens of the fire district and will continue to provide fire and rescue protection as it has in the past without suffering any loss in its ability to respond by the non-acceptance of this grant.”

Oak Ridge Fire and Rescue Company is a rural fire district that serves an area of about 25 square miles. It is not overseen by the town of Oak Ridge.

The announcement thanked those who worked to win the grant for the fire company, including U.S. Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.), a member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus.

Contact Jamie Kennedy Jones at 449-4610 or jamie.kennedy@news-record.com.