Midway Fire Department regains certification after council vote

The City of Midway has its own fire department again.

At a special called meeting of the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council Thursday, July 31, members voted unanimously to lift the suspension on Midway’s fire department certification. 

Executive Director Randy Toms said GFSTC would “get that taken care of that today.”

With 9 firefighters on the roster and 6 “completely ready to go,” Toms added, the city meets GFSTC’s staffing rules. 

“They now have some new apparatus that meets the standard and [Safety and Compliance Specialist] Wayne Feller has gone recently and done a site review,” he explained. “They have also got the proper equipment in place and their station is to house the truck, at least, and they’re still doing some renovations on the living quarters, but that’s not important to the opening of this department back up or lifting the suspension.”

Toms added that the passing grade is “certainly in the nick of time,” as the agreement between Liberty County and Midway expires today: “I think they’re going to work together well in the future, but this was the last day of the current agreement, so I think it was very important that we reached this today.”

In his first public statement on the matter since his daughter’s death July 15, Clancy told the approximately 40 people on the call, “I just wanted to thank the staff for putting up with Midway, and guiding what they had to go through to get back in compliance.”

Mayor Pro Tempore Clemontine Washington added, “I would like to thank all of you for working very diligently with us, and I especially want to say thanks to Chief Darby of the Liberty County Fire Department and the Liberty County officials. We are really appreciative and we will not let you down.”

Midway’s City Council also held a special called meeting July 29, voting 3-0 to hire one new full-time and one new part-time firefighter.

City leaders fought hard to get the station up and running to the state’s satisfaction after an investigation by The Current and months of tensions between former Midway Volunteer Fire Department staff and City Hall.

The volunteer firefighters, who were working in end-of-life turnout gear and a leaky, moldy station with loose insulation, complained that their requests for fire truck repairs, radio batteries, and other vital equipment were being ignored and putting both firefighters’ and citizens’ lives at risk. Washington, who serves as liaison between the fire department and City Hall, denied she had been unresponsive and pointed to new firehoses that the city had purchased. Tensions flared to the point where Mayor Levern Clancy locked out the firefighters, citing their own safety concerns, and nearly all the volunteer firefighters resigned. GFSTC suspended the city’s fire certification and threatened to revoke it if there were not a drastic turnaround.

Months of negotiations between the city and county dragged out as the city hustled to put together its own professional fire service amid budget concerns. The city later passed a $3.1 million budget without public scrutiny. A tentative deal for the county to provide full service coverage within the city limits fell through after Midway questioned the county’s price tag. Meanwhile, the city depended on Liberty County Fire and Emergency Services to continue providing the basic support it had always provided. City officials weren’t thrilled about sharing a proposed county fire station with Riceboro, while county officials were unhappy about providing services without reimbursement.

Instead, Midway hired a consultant, Fairburn Fire Chief Cornelius Robinson, who promised to get the city a deal on a fire truck. Midway, which was in the middle of at least one audit, got funding through the Georgia Municipal Association to invest in the upfront costs of new equipment, trucks, and safety gear. The city also hired a new fire chief. The old fire station, which had been cleaned out by at least two people with no personal protection equipment, now houses the trucks, while operations are happening out of the former police station next door. Repairs to the old station will start mid-August, following the council’s July 1 vote to award a $356,000 contract to RL Construction Group.

Toms thanked everyone involved in getting the city’s certification back.

“Thanks to the City of Midway, to the elected officials, to the fire department personnel, to [Midway Fire] Chief [Craig] Reynolds, for as hard as they’ve worked to get this accomplished, and they’ve been very committed and very diligent to get this done,” he said. “Thanks to the Liberty County officials—that’s been very special that they were willing to work with the City of Midway.”

Toms singled out Liberty County Fire and Emergency Services Chief Brian Darby for lavish praise: “He wouldn’t want me to do this, but a special thanks to Chief Darby with Liberty County,” he told the group. “He has just gone over and above everything that you would expect from a chief…. We’ve spent a lot of time on the phone, working things out, and Chief Darby, I just want to say in front of everybody, thank you for your professionalism, thank you for your commitment to the fire service, and not just Liberty County and Midway, but to the fire service in the state of Georgia. It’s been inspirational to me, so thank you so much.”

Midway citizens and businesses have been concerned about the suspension’s impact on their fire insurance rates. GFSTC does not set fire safety ratings. Private companies like Verisk create ISO ratings for fire departments and sell that service to insurance companies, which use those ratings and other factors like distance from fire hydrants and previous insurance claims when calculating risk.