ONLEY, Va. (WVEC) -- A volunteer fire department that was recently praised for saving the life of a man stuck in flood water, could soon be closed.
The Onley Fire and Rescue team has about 25 volunteers that give up countless personal hours to help answer medical, fire and rescue calls.
The station is set to be closed by August 1. Part of the reason is because of lack of funding, the other is the fact that most of the volunteers have regular jobs, and can’t answer calls between 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. on weekdays.
“If we are not able to correct that situation, we will close our doors," said Chief Christopher Davis.
Davis says in order to keep the station running, he will need the help of the Town of Onley. He proposed that they hire 2 full time firefighters to man the station during regular business hours, while his volunteers will cover the rest. He also asked that the town helps fix up the fire station, in return for a portion of it to be used as a meeting space for town business.
"We have a lot of young motivated people that are willing to do what it takes to serve the community, we have been here for the community, and now we ask that the community is here for us," he explained.
If the station does in fact close, nearby volunteer and county staffed fire departments will answer the calls.
Davis says that the county estimates the delay in response would be about two minutes, but that is the crews aren’t already tied up with other calls.
“It would be very dramatic to say that if they wait two more minutes they are going to die, but there are times that delay would cost life," said Davis.