WINONA, Texas — On Sunday morning, the Smith County Emergency Services District 2 alleviated some stress off of the Winona Volunteer Fire Department by assigning some firefighters to their district.
WVFD's Fire Chief William Allen said he is welcoming the new members with open arms as this is a part of a program to ensure all districts in Smith County have a 24-hour response throughout the year.
"It guarantees there's another resource available," Allen said. "I mean we can call for Red Springs VFD and call for Jackson VFD and those stations are staffed. So therefore we know if the need were to arise in order to stop a fire we can call in all these resources. It's going to be a great tool for us."
Allen said this is a great resource for him and his team of volunteers since they don't man the station at every hour and have other jobs to attend to.
"It helps continue that the same level of service and a level of care throughout the entire county," Allen said.
According to a map on WVFD's website, it shows that they cover the northeastern portion of Smith County. This includes part of Interstate 20, and two other highways that head toward Big Sandy and Gladewater. Allen said this addition of firefighters will help them respond to the various calls they can't respond to.
"We've got Red Springs, Dixie, Flint-Gresham, Noonday and Whitehouse that are also staffed," Allen said. "They're working on getting all of us where we can have all those resources available to help provide the same level of service."
WVFD receives an average of 80 to 100 emergency calls a month. Allen said having these firefighters in place in Winona and the surrounding districts they will now have a few extra hands to ensure the county’s safety.