I dont live in the area but I do come alot to see family that live in Alum Bridge. Being the son of a county fire chief in VA I think alot about what diffrent difficalties rural fire companies have to face. I think all of the county fire department should fallow Weston's idea. Due to the economy and other things going on in todays everyday life, most people dont really have alot of money to give away to local fire departments and other departments that help people everyday. If this is what they need to do to keep in service then I think they should do it. Also I think they should try to do other things to get some extra money to use for any repairs and gas. Our VFD holds a "firemans carnival" every year which brings in alot of extra money so mabye they should consider trying something like that.

Some places call this a "user fee" and the person who is at fault gets the bill. Rural fire departments in WV are in trouble. Membership is down, donations are down, equipment supplies and insurance cost keep going up, and fuel! When you see a fire engine rolling down the street you are looking at nearly half a million dollars. Go for it Lewis County Commissioners. Take the advice of the WV state legislature, (chapter 7, article 1, section 3d) and pass an ordinance to allow your volunteer fire departments to recover some of the cost associated with saving lives and keeping a bad situation from getting much worse. Other WV counties have a fire billing ordinance and it works just fine. John Y that is a dollar for a bottle of water and I don't think Lewis County will miss you that much.

I am not from your area, but as a wife of a 35 year volunteer fireman, I feel obligated to respond.

Most people don't realize the expenses incurred by the fire department in responding to accidents. Volunteer companies depend on small allotments from their local government and public support to keep their services available. Most people don't realize that volunteer firemen spend hours upon hours of personal time and expense in training and responding to their fire calls.

Be thankful for your volunteers, support your fire department and encourage your commissioners to pass this billing ordinance.

If you only new the cost of running a fire department and the services they provide you might think differently. Here is the real question to ask yourself: Do I want to pay this fee so the fire department continues to respond on every car wreck immediately in case I need their help, or do I think they would be better suited staying at the fire house until 10 minutes later when Law Enforcement of EMS arrives on scene, assesses the situation, and then requests fire department? Then you have to wait on the volunteers to respond to the station, don their gear, get in a truck, drive to scene and start planning on how they are going to help you. Anybody who has the slightest clue about emergency medicine and trauma would say that your best bet would be to pay the fee to have them responding immediately. Especially when this accident might just be on I-79 or Rt. 33 where the chance of a high speed, high impact collision are very likely which significantly increases the odds for significant trauma. Just think about it, how much are willing to pay for the safety or yourself, your child, your parents, or your friends.

ok here's one lets charging people for the air we breath. we already charge a 1 doller for water

what the hell if one of Lewis County resident crashes into my car you are going to charge me to be extracted from my vehicle i hope your commissioners don't pass this or i will not becoming to Lewis County this is insane