March 8, 2017
Two Sections – 16 Pages
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Vol. 39 No. 12
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EDITOR – CAROL BROOKS, 841-4933 FEATURES – NORMA B. DENNIS, 841-4933 DISPLAY ADVERTISING – 316-1231
Jamestown, North Carolina
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Fire department requesting funds for additional manpower is help staff our outlying
By JANE WHITEHORNE stations that currently only Staff Writer have one person on duty When there’s trouble, nothing is more reassuring than the arrival of firefighters. Most often the local firefighter is first on the scene in an emergency. Pinecroft-Sedgefield Fire Department is proud to answer those calls and serve its community. Now it needs a helping hand. PSFD wants to hire 12 full-time career staff to ease its manpower shortage. However, those additional people come with a hefty price tag of $500,000. Department officials have been in discussion with Guilford County and the Town of Jamestown about the need for money to meet this goal. They want those in the community to understand in order to continue the level of service people have come to expect from PSFD, and to maintain the safety of its firefighters, the additional funding is very necessary. “What those 12 additional firefighters will do
24-7,” said PSFD Chief Steve Allred. “The real reason we are pushing this is for safety, for the safety of those firefighters out there by themselves at those stations, and for the safety of the citizens.” PSFD operates five stations in the 52-square-mile area of Guilford County that it covers. Only one person per shift mans three of those stations – Jamestown, Vickrey Chapel Road and Coltrane Mill Road. Fortunately, there is an additional person on duty from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, when that person leaves at day’s end, one firefighter is left to respond to calls in that vicinity. Allred said normally a duty officer at PSFD headquarters on Bishop Road would respond to assist the firefighter from the oneman stations. However, that takes time and, in an emergency, time is precious. “The number of calls we
are getting is increasing and we are low on staff,” said Allred. “We’re putting those firefighters out there by themselves for longer than we’d like. Back in the day, we had volunteers that would respond from their homes to supplement that manpower. But our volunteer numbers are down. Currently, we have 32 volunteers.” Although the number of fire calls has steadily declined over the years, the overall call volume has increased. Last year the department answered over 3,000 calls. Sixty percent of those were medical calls and fires, rescues and automobile accidents accounted for the remaining 40 percent. Additionally, 16 percent of the time the department responded to multiple calls at the same time. All calls are labor intensive, especially auto accidents, which involve a truck to work the incident as well as a blocking truck to keep traffic away. Allred said people are often surprised when a truck arrives with only one firefighter
(Photo/Submitted)
Station 46 in Jamestown is one of Pinecroft-Sedgefield Fire Department locations with only one person on duty 24-7. on board. “You always need someone watching your back, helping you carry equipment,” said Allred. “Doing CPR is much more effective with two people. Extra help on the calls is a big thing, and the safety of the firefighter is very important.”
When PSFD submits its budget to the county at the end of March, it will reflect the $500,000 for the additional personnel. They also have applied for a grant that would defray a portion of the cost. Whether the department gets its request is the question. “I know that sounds
like a lot of money,” said Allred, “but most people want the fire department to have what they need in an emergency.”
Jane E. Whitehorne can be reached at 336-8414933 or jamestownlegals@ northstate.net.
Fire department calls increased in 2015-16
Rezoning requested for homes, condos
By CAROL BROOKS Editor
The outcome of public hearings scheduled for the March 13 Planning Board could impact the landscape of Jamestown. Davis Family Enterprises, LTD, has submitted a request to rezone 413 E. Main St. from Conditional Zoning-Agriculture (CXAG) to Conditional ZoningSingle Family Residential (CZ-SFR). The owner is seeking to subdivide the approximately 15.46-acre site into five lots, averaging from 2-4 acres each for residential housing. One lot would face East Main Street, with two coming off
Captain Brandon Cobb, of Pinecroft-Sedgefield Fire Department’s Station #46 in Jamestown, presented the yearly report at the February Jamestown Town Council Meeting. “PSFD responded to 3,014 calls last year (201516),” said Cobb. That figure reflected an increase of 55 from the previous year. Of that number, 1,742 were medical incidents, 634 were fire-related, 326 were motor vehicle accidents and 282 were service or good intent incidents. The Jamestown station is now the second-busiest station, with 724 calls in 2015-16, an increase of 47 calls. The town was in third place the previous two years. Of those calls, the 478 medical incidents greatly outnumbered any other calls, typical of most departments. Many of those calls were to Shannon Gray Rehabilitation and
Recovery Center. Fire-related incidents for Jamestown were 257, motor vehicle accidents 30 and service/good intent incidents were 46. “We’re lucky the fire number is so low,” Cobb said. “We hope to keep it that way.” Responding to calls is not the only duty of the Pinecroft-Sedgefield Fire Department. Fire prevention and education is important. The department held 138 programs in their district, attended by 9,206 children and adults. Of that number, 2,806 attended the 26 programs in Jamestown. If the Town of Jamestown is successful in purchasing the town’s original 1929 fire engine, it will be kept at Station #46 and used for programs and parades. Firefighters are continually updating their skills through training. The local station participated in a controlled burn on Oakdale Road on Feb. 18. This helps in their training as well as reduces potential fire hazards. “We plan on adding 12 career firefighter personnel in the future,” Cobb said. “This will provide a minimum of two career personnel at each PSFD station. “We are also adding Mobile Data Computers in the fire apparatus to provide up-to-date incident notes and routing instructions for safer travel and scene safety.”
The department will also need to replace the Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), which will reach the end-of-life stage in 2018. The Jamestown and Pinecroft-Sedgefield Fire Departments merged in 2003. It currently is made up of a board of directors, fire chief and assistant, three captains, seven lieutenants, maintenance technician, 22 career firefighters, nine volunteer firefighters, 10 resident firefighters, five junior firefighters, a Ladies’ Auxiliary and other support personnel. The department operates six engines, five tankers, one heavy rescue, one fire and rescue boat and a brush truck, among other vehicles. The total operating budget for PSFD for fiscal year 2016-17 is $2.94 million, with $435,044 being supplied by the Town of Jamestown. Within town limits, the current insurance rating – which helps determine insurance rates – is a class four. The rest of the district is class five. PSFD covers approximately 52 square miles, stretching – and covering in part – Greensboro, High Point, Pleasant Garden and Randleman. It also services the Randleman Lake area. Interstate 85 accounts for most of the vehicle calls. Carol Brooks can be reached at 336-841-4933 or jamestownnews@north state.net.
By CAROL BROOKS Editor
Wynnwood Drive and two off Somerset Drive in the Forestdale East subdivision. Also under consideration is a rezoning request from Riverwalk I, LLC, for property at 3511 R1 and 3511 Z Dillon Road. During the townwide rezoning in 2009, the Riverwalk Townhomes were rezoned from Residential-8 Planned Unit Development (R-8 PUD) with restrictions to Multi-Family Residential (MFR). However, this approximately 1.53-acre portion was rezoned SFR, believing it would be taken by the NCDOT for rightof-way in construction of the Jamestown Bypass. It has since been learned
the bypass will not touch this property. Plans are to construct an eight-unit condominium building on the site. Jamestown Planning Director Matthew Johnson will update the Board on possible updates to the Land Development Ordinance and will lead discussion of ongoing Planning Board training. The Planning Board will meet March 13 in the Council Chambers at Town Hall. The public is invited to attend.
Carol Brooks can be reached at 336-841-4933 or jamestownnews@north state.net.
Crime rose slightly in Jamestown during 2016 By CAROL BROOKS Editor Lt. John Henderson of the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office gave an annual report of crime in Jamestown at the Feb. 21 Town Council meeting. There were 59 Part One crimes (murder and nonnegligent homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, larceny/theft and arson) reported in 2016, including 47 larcenies (up 15 percent from 2015) and nine burglaries. There were also one motor vehicle theft, one rape and one robbery. The figures indicate an increase of only two total crimes from the previous year and no aggravated assaults. “The biggest hotspot is the Dollar General where we’ve had a continuous battle with shoplifting,” Henderson said.
July was the busiest month for the department in Jamestown with nine Part One crimes committed, six of those being larcenies. Henderson noted that most of the 47 larcenies occurred primarily at Dollar General and the drug store. It also includes cars broken into. There were no aggravated assaults in 2016 in Jamestown, down from 3 the previous year, and only one robbery, up from zero in 2015. “With Dollar General, we spend a lot of time with a Shoplifting Initiative,” Henderson said. “In the past, when we had a shoplifting, we would show up and if the person’s there, as long as we could identify them with a valid driver’s license or ID card, we would write them a citation and send them on their way. It’s a speedy See CRIME, page A5