VFDs Upset over WV Highway Department's Response

Volunteers with the county’s fire departments said they’re often left frustrated by the West Virginia Division of Highways’ inability or unwillingness to respond when called for road related issues, like road/lane closures or trees, rocks or slides blocking lanes.

If the issue involves infrastructure like phone lines, the frustration is compounded.

Cassville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Chris Tennant said he had staffing and assets at a slide on Mason-Dixon Highway for about five hours earlier this month.

He said the DOH arrived but wouldn’t get out of their trucks because a tree was touching a phone line.

“It’s the DOH, and then you have companies like Frontier, which is even worse,” Tennant said. “It’s almost like you have people fighting over who’s going to do something. Meanwhile, you have people volunteering their time — people with families and full-time jobs — left stuck at the scene while they sit and watch, and that’s when they show up. We’re supposed to respond to emergencies, not babysit a tree in the road or a slide.”

Blacksville VFD Chief Kevin Wilson echoed those sentiments.

He said his department was on the scene of an oil spill on Daybrook Road for more than six hours two weeks back after repeated calls to the DOH ultimately resulted in a refusal.

“The West Virginia DEP was there and said it was an emergency and the DOH needed to be there, but they refused to come out,” Wilson said, explaining that he got a similar response a week later at the scene of a rollover accident due to black ice.

“The deputy on scene called them twice and said they needed to get someone there, but they still wouldn’t come. Here we’re trying to stop all the vehicles because it’s nothing but a sheet of ice. People were sliding everywhere,” Wilson said.

“This is all the time. We’re volunteers. We shouldn’t be doing their jobs. We don’t get paid. We pay for our own fuel. We pay for our own insurance, our trucks and everything else. That comes right out of our pocket.”

Requests to the DOH for comment and an explanation of the division’s protocols regarding emergencies went unanswered.

Bob Brookover, president of the Monongalia County Volunteer Firefighters Association, said he understands the frustration.

“I’ve done it countless times over the years and you just get so frustrated. I mean, when you’re on a call to save someone’s life, that’s one thing. But when you’re hours on a call where there’s nothing you can do — we can’t move a 10-ton rock or stop a hill from sliding — you get upset,” Brookover said, explaining that more and more is asked of the VFDs because people know they’ll show up in a timely fashion.

“I don’t know how the volunteer fire departments acquired all this extra stuff they’re expected to do, but it keeps getting worse and worse,” Brookover said. “And it’s because when the bell rings, you jump up and go and you don’t even question it.”

As far as the DOH goes — particularly the Pentress garage that responds to issues in both the Blacksville and Cassville VFD coverage areas — Brookover said they’re fighting an uphill battle.

“I’ve known the guy who’s running that garage for years, and I know he doesn’t have near enough men and I know he doesn’t have near enough equipment. I feel sorry for them because they catch the blunt end no matter what,” Brookover said. “That said, does it make you feel any better if you’re standing on the road for hours and hours waiting when you’ve got to be at work in the morning? No, but I don’t know what to do about it. I wish I did.”

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