Lee County’s new weekday strike teams and Saltillo’s first stand-alone fire station are boosting coverage, cutting response times and aiming to lower insurance ratings

By William Moore
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

SALTILLO, Miss. — The face of fire protection in north Lee County has transformed over the last two months.

The Lee County Fire Strike Team began operating Jan. 5 . Last week, the full-time members of the Saltillo Fire Department moved into their first standalone fire station, leaving the old station for the volunteer fire department. The move essentially gives the city two fire stations.

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The new station has long been a dream of the Saltillo Fire Department. Years of hope became real in July 2023 when ground was finally broken on Turner Industrial Park Road. The original design was scaled back. Officials hoped to be in the building by December, but unexpected delays kept pushing that date back.

Last week, firefighters and their equipment moved into the building. While there are still several things left to complete, the thrill of moving into their own space overcomes any negatives. The Saltillo Fire Department doesn’t even mind sharing their brand new home with another fire crew.

To better serve the people, the Lee County Board of Supervisors created a pair of strike teams — paid firefighters who work Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. to augment the county’s volunteer fire departments. Using Interstate 22 to divide the county, one team is housed in Saltillo, the other in Verona.

Lee County Fire Strike Team deputy commander Teresa Williams said the strike teams started full time Jan. 5 are getting between four to eight calls per day. In the first two months, there have been no major issues.

Since most volunteer firefighters have full-time jobs, it is harder for volunteers to respond to calls during weekday working hours. The strike teams can respond quickly to fire and medical calls and assess the situation. That gives a little more time for volunteers to respond, especially for structure fires.

“It was never intended for the strike team to become a primary response,” Williams said. “It is set up to supplement the volunteer fire departments.”

Saltillo Fire Chief Chris Jenkins is happy to give up a bay at his new station to house the strike team’s borrowed fire engine. In the past, since Saltillo had paid firefighters on duty during the day during the week, the department was tasked to respond to emergency calls out in the county as well. That could cause a problem if the Saltillo fire engine was at the scene of a county call when an emergency call came in for the city.

“The strike team takes the pressure off us to make county calls and runs,” Jenkins said. “So now, we handle only calls in the city from (the new) station. The volunteers are running out of the other station with the other fire engine. We hope this will help us with the fire ratings.”

Saltillo Public Works director Dustin Hathcock is a member of the volunteer fire department. His office in the downtown municipal complex is just a few doors down from the old fire station.

“If something comes up, Dustin is capable of getting the other engine to a fire,” Jenkins said. “That will allow us to put two Class A pumpers on the scene of a structure fire.”

With the strike teams at the ready, first responders can answer more calls and respond quicker.

“It is working. We have been pleasantly surprised,” Williams said. “Some days, the strike team drives from one end of the (area) to the other, running them to death. The two areas are split by Interstate 22, but that still leaves a lot of miles to cover.”

There is not enough data yet, but officials hope the strike teams can reduce response times, similar to what happened when the county stationed ambulances at satellite locations outside of Tupelo. It used to take 30 minutes or more for an ambulance to get to rural north Lee County locations. After establishing a satellite site in Guntown, that number dropped to about 15 minutes.

The No. 1 goal of the strike teams is that when an individual calls 911, they know someone is coming,” Williams said, “The No. 2 goal is to see insurance rates lower.”

She said some areas of Lee County are unrated, meaning they are so far away from a volunteer fire department or hydrants, that their fire insurance rating is 10, the worst. Just by having strike teams, ratings in those areas go from 10 to 9, which could be a sizable drop in home fire insurance premiums.

Lee County is currently borrowing fire trucks from Unity and Palmetto to supply the strike teams. Someone has to go to those departments every morning to get the truck. At the end of the day, they have to take the trucks back, so they will be available if needed by the volunteer departments.

When the new fiscal year starts in October, the county should have new separate trucks for the two strike teams.

When Saltillo secures funding to purchase a ladder truck, a new parking spot will be needed for the strike team truck. Since the county owns all the land around the new Saltillo Fire Department, supervisors could donate more land to expand the building. That expansion could also include additional bays to house ambulances, to put most of the first responders under the same roof.

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