ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, August 5, 1996 TAG: 9608050071
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
RICHARD BURCH becomes Roanoke County's rescue chief at a time when the department is re-evaluating its goals.
Rick Burch Jr. was 2 years old when he put out his first fire.
His father bought him a toy fire engine, and the two headed out behind the house, where Richard Burch Sr. rigged up a "burning house" with a cardboard box and some smoldering rags.
As his father rattled on a trash can lid to sound the alarm, the toddler pushed his new toy into position, then sprayed the smoking box with a garden hose.
``His mama came out in the yard, and she said, `You'll kill that boy,''' Burch Sr. recalled.
Burch Jr., who took office Thursday as Roanoke County's fire and rescue chief, can't remember a time when he did not want to be a firefighter.
His grandfather, who died about the time Burch was born, and his father were captains with the Richmond Fire Department. Starting at about age 9, Burch began spending his Saturdays at the station with his father while his mother had her hair done and ran errands. He held the doors open for firefighters as they raced out on calls; sometimes he even got to tag along.
"I'd dread when the time came for my mother to pick me up about 4 or 5 o'clock," he said.
He signed up as a volunteer firefighter at age 14. At age 44, he's still in the family business.
Burch has spent the past 19 years in Hanover County, where he worked his way through the ranks to deputy chief of the fire department and deputy emergency services coordinator. Hanover's fire chief is just one year older than Burch, so Burch decided to look for career opportunities elsewhere.
"I wanted to be chief of a department before I get out of the business," he said.
As president of the State Fire Chiefs Association of Virginia and a recent appointee to the Virginia Fire Services Board, Burch said he's more up-to-date on state and national issues than he has ever been. He's eager to get started with his new job. In fact, he jumped straight from his old job into the new one without a break. He plans to rent housing while he and his wife, Sandy, an insurance underwriter, look for a permanent home and employment for her in the area.
Burch said his first duty will be to familiarize himself with Roanoke County's fire and rescue system, which is comparable to Hanover's. Burch now heads a department with 56 career and about 600 volunteer emergency workers (about 365 of them active) serving a population of more than 80,000. Hanover has 25 career and 475 volunteers for a population of nearly 80,000.
He already has made progress in winning the respect of both career and volunteer emergency workers. Members of the selection committee that chose him out of 140 candidates said his written application was impressive enough to put him among the eight finalists, but it was the interview that convinced them he was their new chief.
"The reason he rose to the top was his personality and his ability to work within the different groups of people," said Bruce Roy, head of the firefighters union.
Some career and volunteer emergency workers have expressed concerns that Burch's predecessor, Tommy Fuqua, was hampered in his efforts to implement improvements in the department by County Administrator Elmer Hodge and the Board of Supervisors - an allegation disputed by Fuqua. Burch said he is confident he'll be given the authority to make changes where he believes they are needed.
"Mr. Hodge has been supportive in that he has told me he wants me to lead the department," Burch said.
Hodge has asked Burch to prepare a report on the state of fire and rescue services in the county that would assess the need for additional volunteers, professional firefighters and support staff.
Burch has inherited a departmental review that began two years ago and culminated last summer in the identification of four priority areas for improvements: establishing a two-minute reaction time; forming a quality assurance team; providing sleeping quarters in all stations; and hiring additional part-time personnel to assist with staffing.
Although he said he needs time to study those issues, the idea of a quality assurance team fits with one of Burch's personal goals. The new chief said he would like the team to include county residents as well as volunteer and career emergency workers.
Although Burch believes standards for career and volunteer emergency workers should be "close," he said he recognizes that volunteers have less time for training . Volunteers, who juggle emergency work with other jobs and family obligations, say they need basic skills but can't be expected to put in the same number of training hours as paid staff.
"I've got enough certificates to, so to speak, paper a johnny house, but I'm not in it for the money, so they don't help me," said Norman Darnall, fire chief at the Masons Cove-Catawba Fire Company.
The idea for a training center at Dixie Caverns serving police, fire and rescue was broached only last month, but Burch said he already is an enthusiastic backer.
"I support that 110 percent," he said. "I think in today's political and economical world, it only makes sense to combine resources wherever you can, and there is no reason those agencies can't share a facility. If the folks train together, then they should certainly work together on the emergency scene."
Although Burch hasn't had time to thoroughly review the department's budget, he already sees familiar signs of stress.
"If I saw a weakness, I guess it would be - as with most systems today - they're asked to provide more services with less resources," he said.
The question of how to fix that gap raises controversial issues, including the possibility of ambulance fees and achieving an acceptable balance between career personnel and volunteers. Emergency workers say those issues have been on the table for years and need to be addressed soon.
"Right now, we'd like to do all we can possible to make the new chief welcome, to support him in all his endeavors and to be kind of passive and not to rock the boat," Roy said. "But what we will not do is we will not compromise the safety of the citizens and the people that work here."
"I think everybody knows there's going to be change," added Teddy Crowe, chairman of the Rescue Chiefs Board. "A lot of people are even hoping for some change."
LENGTH: Long : 115 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PHILIP HOLMAN Staff. Richard Burch comes from aby CNBfirefighting family. color.