The town board met in January with Wilkes County Sheriff Dane Mastin. This month the board met with Ronda's Volunteer Fire Chief Bruce Byrd to hear from the town's first line of defense.
"We are a small town on the edge of two counties," said Ronda Mayor Victor Varela. "Our volunteer fire department is very important to any sort of emergency we have here.
Varela said they are well equipped in responding to weather-related concerns illustrated by their response to the storms seen the first week of March. He was caught between Ronda and Clingman that week, when a tree branch blocked the bridge running between the two neighboring communities.
"I was the first car in line and called 911." Varela said it took only a matter of minutes to clear the bridge of obstruction.
Byrd said that the department has several saws and took care of a number of downed trees after the recent wind damage as well as responding to a chicken house that flipped over in the Clingman- Bethel Baptist Road area. "There wasn't too much we could do in that case," Byrd said.
They removed approximately 15 trees from various roads. "We've got a pretty good, fast crew for that," Byrd said. The town asked Byrd to update them on the department's status, needs, and reports including insurance premiums, the new substation, and emergency response. "As for an emergency response system," Byrd said, "We don't really have one for the town. But if we needed to, we could call the county emergency management coordinator Susan Hamby. "Other than that, we come when we are needed." "It's an amazing department of very dedicated people," Varela said of the volunteer fire department. "Byrd mentioned a few tools we could utilize in the future for safety response in large structures at the meeting last week." There is a software computer program that Byrd recommended to preplan for evacuations and fire control in large structures like some of the factories and town hall. Varela said, "We want to make sure all the necessary equipment is in place for them." He is concerned though with the growing number of medical emergencies the department is responding to. "We have an aging population here and I'm worried the number of calls could go up in the next decade or two," the mayor said. Drug overdose has also been a cause of concern. In 2007 Ronda responded to 200 calls. Already in March of 2008, the volunteer fire department is up to 58 calls. "It's why we need to start recruiting for more volunteers, especially on the new Clingman substation side." There are currently six EMT certified first responders out of the 28-person roster, including the chief. Training takes place once a week on Monday nights for the fire department, and Byrd said that interested citizens could come to a meeting without any prior rescue skills. He would like to see at least five more members on the Clingman side. Until then he will be dividing volunteers and equipment from the old station to respond from the new substation that is under construction. Byrd has put in a grant for $50,000 in matching funds for more equipment for both stations through the State Office of the Fire Marshal. Byrd's update to the Ronda board included news that the new substation will be arriving March 24 and should take only six weeks to assemble. Grading is underway next to the Ronda Community center and baseball field. The next speaker invited to visit Varela and Ronda commissioners will be the Wilkes County superintendent. Commissioners are moving their town meeting date from the second Monday of the month to the third Tuesday in hopes to play a more significant roll in surrounding developments. "We have been working with the Town of Elkin on the sewer construction project and see the benefits of that collaboration," said Varela. "This way some of us can attend both town meetings."
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