Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 6, 1995                   TAG: 9504130015
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: E-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VINTON PAID FIREFIGHTERS WILL WORK LONGER HOURS

The problem primarily is in the early morning before the paid crew comes on duty and the volunteers are trying to get to their full-time jobs.

"We've got a problem, and we've got to handle it," said Councilman Billy Obenchain, a Roanoke firefighter and former Vinton volunteer firefighter.

Obenchain, citing a study report given to council by Town Manager Clay Goodman, said the problem is usually between 7 and 8 a.m., a time before the paid firefighters get to work and most of the volunteers are on their way to their jobs.

Obenchain said the report shows that on several recent occasions calls that came in between 7 to 8 a.m. were either answered after many as 15 minutes or had to be answered by a Roanoke or Roanoke County fire company.

In an effort to correct the problem, council members accepted Goodman's recommendation that the paid firefighters' hours be changed so they would begin work at 7 a.m. They will continue to work until 4 p.m. and be paid overtime for a nine-hour day.

The overtime will add $13,131 to Vinton's annual budget, Goodman said.

Although Obenchain said he thought the new schedule is a step in the right direction, he said he would extend the paid firefighters' work day by two hours - 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. This, he said, would make paid staff available for calls that came in late in the afternoon, a time when many of the volunteers have not had time to make themselves available at the fire station.

Obenchain said it is not acceptable for the fire department to miss any calls.

"The taxpayers of this town deserve decent fire protection," he said. "In the past, volunteers have been able to provide it but things have changed now."

One of the biggest changes, he said, is that many businesses have tightened their policies about letting volunteers take time off to answer fire calls.

Councilman Bobby Altice said the Vinton Fire Department is not the only organization with this problem. Nearly all groups have the same trouble, he said.

In other action, council filled three vacancies on two commissions. Mike Chewning was appointed, and Robert A. Patterson was re-appointed to three-year terms on the town's Highway Safety Commission.

Roy McCarty was named to a four-year term on the Vinton Planning Commission.