By Barbara Augsdorfer, Editor for the Effingham Herald

At its July 8 regular meeting, the Rincon City Council got an earful from recently terminated volunteer firefighters and the public who was there to support the firefighters.

Initially, the firefighters had been invited to the meeting to be honored by Fire Chief Lou Reed and the council for their service; however, Gary Kocher, speaking on behalf of his fellow volunteer firefighters, said they didn’t want that.

Kocher reiterated how the volunteer firefighters felt about how they were terminated. “It was very unfair. The certified letter was a ‘kick in the gut’,” Kocher said.

Councilmember Brandy Riley noted some statistics, such as the 563 calls the Rincon Fire Department responded to from January through May 2024; and that two volunteer firefighters responded to 100 of those calls.

Riley added that three volunteer firefighters are equal to one paid full-time firefighter.

Kocher countered that the volunteers are certified in everything that a paid firefighter is required to do.

Councilmember Mona Underwood explained that she and Councilmember Michelle Taylor had attended a GMA (Georgia Municipal Association) meeting in Savannah recently. Underwood recalled a conversation she and Taylor had with members of a firemen’s group at the GMA, regarding the city’s decision to disband the volunteer firefighter program.

“That is one of the biggest growing pains that a lot of municipalities are facing,” Underwood recalled a member of the firemen’s group saying to the two Rincon councilmembers.

“Because municipalities hit the time where it's time to do away with the volunteer program and like (Mayor Pro Tem) Kevin (Exley) said last meeting,” Underwood continued.  “We need to know, because when you saw those 563 calls and maybe two people have responded to 100, we need to know that we've got people to handle all 563 calls. It's not that we don't appreciate everything y'all done in the past.”

The public hearing became a heated when Claudia Kocher (Gary’s wife) addressed the council asking several pointed questions.

“In that (termination) letter, it says that they're being let go because of the vision, the strategic plan and because of some type of interdepartmental strain going on in the fire department,” Claudia Kocher began. “In our Freedom of Information Act (request,) the city of Rincon does not have a strategic plan. And there's no documentation of any type of interdepartmental strain or stress within the fire department.

“If there really is that problem, shouldn't the chief have documented (it) if you're going to put it in a letter saying (that) this program is no longer valid?” Claudia Kocher continued. “Be true and honest. This whole thing infers the volunteer program is an obstacle to the community's growth, the fire department’s growth. Volunteers have no responsibility for any of that. That falls on you -- the budget, the town manager, human resources -- that has nothing to do with the volunteers.

“Show some character, some integrity,” Claudia Kocher concluded. “Then you figure out some other way where they can still serve. What you did is completely unacceptable.”

Former councilmember Patrick Kirkland added to the Kochers’ statements recalling the time when a family member was in an accident and the volunteers responded within two minutes. And without the volunteers, he would have had to wait for 16 minutes for the Effingham County Fire Department to respond.

“How do I know that?” Kirkland asked. “Because a couple of years ago they did a study. That’s what the citizens of Rincon want to know. We have a superb fire department. How are we going to keep it going?”

Other councilmembers weighed in on how the situation was handled and that it could have been handled better.

“I disagree how it was done, but we’re past that now,” Councilmember Levi Scott said.

It should have been done in a meeting face to face,” Councilmember Riley added.

Gary Kocher returned to the podium to make a suggestion: “Make us lifetime members and give us back our pickup trucks,” Kocher said.

“Let you run calls until you decide to retire,” Riley proffered.

After nearly an hour of back and forth, the city council and the volunteer firefighters agreed to a workshop – only discussion, no voting – to be held on Tuesday, July 23 beginning at 6 p.m. in the city council chambers.