CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After a long history serving in our area, the Cook’s Community Volunteer Fire Department in northeast Charlotte is at risk of closing.
The idea to defund the department was suggested at a Mecklenburg County board of commissioners meeting last week as a way to save money in the budget.
The department was established 67 years ago and covers a large area in northeast Charlotte, primarily serving portions of Interstate 485 and the Mountain Island Lake community. The department has been known to play a key role in water rescues along Mountain Island Lake and the Catawba River.
No final decision has been made yet about the future of the department. The board of commissioners still have a lot of questions to be answered. The department is hoping to stay put.
The sign outside of the Cook’s Volunteer Fire Department says it all. It reads “we will keep fighting.”
The fire department is unwilling to be shut down, saying lives will be at risk if they do.
“We have a community to serve,” says Assistant Chief Jason Cook.
Their doors could close, a suggestion made by the county's Land Use and Environmental Services Agency (LUESA) last week as a way for the county to save money. The director says the people who live in that area don't generate enough tax revenue.
An alternative option is to raise taxes.
“We do not want to have any deterioration in service, CFD is doing that analysis to be sure that they can respond within the time frames that are set by standard,” Ebenezer Gujjarlapudi, the director of LUESA said at a meeting last week.
Gujjarlapudi says if the department closes, the Charlotte Fire Department would have to cover that territory.
Cook's VFD is made up of both paid and volunteer members. The Assistant Chief says they respond to 900 calls a year, many on Mountain Island Lake. In June they rescued 34 people when Riverside Drive flooded.
“We’re 2.5 to 3 miles from the lake. When somebody needs us we're there, every second counts in a response,” says Cook. He’s concerned those response times would go up, putting people's lives at risk. “It's just not fair to the community to make that decision,” he says.
No final decision has been made and there still isn't a date for the vote on it.
Vice-chair Elaine Powell says they plan to have further discussions with community members to come up with a solution.
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