Volunteer Spotlight: Robbie Stone

Name: Robbie Stone
Title: Chief
Department: Atkinson County Fire Department
Location: Pearson, GA

Why are you an NVFC member?
I really enjoy the awareness that is being promoted for the volunteer. The NVFC has great resources that support the volunteer and their families. Being a volunteer involves the entire family of that volunteer — the sacrifice a volunteer makes is felt by every member in their home. I enjoy the education provided by the NVFC. The online component is very good education, and the mail-outs are great information. This organization is geared to support the volunteer in so many ways. I wish that all volunteers would join and take advantage of these great resources.

What is your occupation?
Emergency Management Agency director/fire chief

Why are you a fire service volunteer?
I have always wanted to help my community. In 1990, I witnessed a home burn to the ground. At that scene, I noticed there weren’t very many members. I asked the local fire chief, and he explained that it was a volunteer fire department. So I asked if I could join, and he said yes. I was welcomed into a group of people who truly wanted to help their community, just because they cared.

I loved the fact that I was doing something that made a difference. I loved that I could help my community and help save people and property. Over the years, I have risen up the ranks to now be the chief. For 25 years I was 100% a volunteer. I now get paid to run my department, but I still get up every time during the night to run the next call.

Being a volunteer all those years has prepared me to run what is now a combination fire department.

What year did you join the fire or emergency service?
1990

What are your memorable moments as a firefighter or EMS provider?
I guess the most memorable moment now would be that we have built a combination department. We were awarded a SAFER grant in 2019 to hire three full-time firefighters. The following year, we were awarded another SAFER grant to hire a recruitment and retention officer, who is also our first-ever training chief. So, including myself, we have five full-time staff who work a 24/48 schedule.

We changed our training time to the first Saturday of the month. This allows us to get and do better training. Our volunteers now have someone whose time is flexible for training and support. Hence, the training has changed so much. Firefighter I is now a possible goal for our volunteers. We can now say that we are 100% trained staff.

Our volunteers get to do EMT training. We have three firefighter-paramedics, seven firefighter-EMTs, and are currently starting another grant-funded EMT class. We have six members pursuing their EMT.
We do not have a hospital within our county. We only operate one ambulance, and we are 30 minutes from any emergency medical help. Having cross-trained help is crucial for our community.

The most exciting thing is, they are all volunteers who care about their community. I love this transformation, and we are still growing.

What contributions have you (and your department) made in your community?
We have just certified our first two fire inspectors. We can now do inspections within our county with trained staff.

We have created a Fire Safety Group that focuses on fire safety alone, with bilingual staff to reach a greater audience. We participate in all civic events within our county to promote fire safety and awareness., and we visit our senior center multiple times a year as well as our school system and local churches.

Atkinson County Fire Department has been a consolidated fire department since 2014. We absorbed our town and local city fire departments into one department to lower our ISO rating — now at a 5/5x, which is a great improvement from 8 or 9. We have expanded that ISO map to include many areas within our county, and it continues to grow.

The most important thing is that we have full-time staff that has taken such a load off of our volunteers. Some of them were beginning to show burnout and exhaustion due to answering so many calls. It’s hard to hold on to volunteers in these times. Being flexible in training times has helped, and taking some of the load off has helped.

Atkinson County Fire Department is 90% volunteer. They are the backbone of our organization. We have been truly blessed to have these great men and women.

Interested in serving your community? Find volunteer fire service opportunities at https://makemeafirefighter.org/.