VANCE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS RUSH TO SHUT DOWN THE VANCE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD
PUBLIC RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT SQUASHING THE ONLY LIFE SAVING/RESCUE/RECOVERY ACCREDITED TEAM FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA WATERS OF KERR LAKE; AND THE PUBLIC WANTS TO KNOW WHY THIS ISSUE IS MOVING SO FAST WITHOUT USUAL CONSIDERATION AND HEARINGS.
The Vance County Board of Commissioners is currently considering eliminating the Vance County Rescue Squad. During recent meetings, commissioners have discussed proposals that could include restructuring, reduced funding, or potentially discontinuing the county’s relationship with the Rescue Squad altogether. But this coming Monday night, August 4, the Vance Commissioners are set to shut down the Vance County Rescue Squad by the end of September.
Where the public outcry is building from is not only the elimination of the squad but the fact that the county has taken the posture that “we don’t really want to hear about this anymore.” There have not been the usual public conversations and hearings about the squad’s elimination. Those hearings are said to be necessary, if not prescribed by law, when the consideration of axing such a vital agency is on the table.
Most of the members of the Vance County Rescue Squad are volunteers on call 24/7-365 with part-time paid staff who cover 12 hours a day, five days a week. Shutting down the rescue squad would mean that Vance County would have to (1) employ a considerable larger number of certified people, if they could find them, or (2) cut the service of the squad and the number of calls. Currently, Vance County Rescue can staff up to 120 hours per week and runs an average of 450-500 calls per year.
The Vance County Rescue Squad was chartered and incorporated in 1953 only one year after Kerr Lake itself started filling. The squad has advanced steadfastly during those 72 years. The Vance County Rescue Squad is still the only emergency service in Vance County with a boat to access Kerr Lake and other Vance County water sources. The squad is certified with the State of North Carolina to provide Heavy Rescue, High Angle Rescue, Water Rescue and Medical Response. The Vance County Board of Commissioners is trying to defund the Rescue Squad and give those duties to the County Fire Department, which is not certified with the state at any level of service currently. Before anything was approved by the board, Vance County has allowed the Vance County Fire Department to purchase two boats, an underwater drone, a side by side and an enclosed trailer. Currently the County Fire Department does not even have anywhere to house all the current equipment nor the new equipment that they have ordered. The county citizens and the visitors to our lake will be losing a service that cannot be duplicated by any fire department currently.
Proponents of the change are spouting that the actual vote by the Vance Board of Commissioners will come this coming Monday night, August 4th.
Opponents say this is pure politics and ask why a proven, learned, trained team of volunteers providing this invaluable service for over 70 years on the North Carolina leg of Kerr Lake and to the citizens of Vance County in ponds, quarries and other water locations be discontinued for an untrained, uncertain option.
The next meeting of the Vance County Board of Commissioners is on Monday, August 4, 2025, at 6:00 PM. The meeting will be held at the Vance County Administration Building, located at 301 South Young Street, Henderson, NC.