Crane Hill Fire & Rescue Volunteers Serve, But Need More Resources

Smith Lake is one of the most rapidly-growing areas of Alabama. Its 21,000 acres and more than 500 miles of shoreline make it a popular recreation destination, while its proximity to both the Huntsville and Birmingham metro areas and rural character have made it a desirable residential site for those wanting to escape urban areas.

Unfortunately, the rapid growth of the area has stressed the supporting infrastructure, which has not grown as the Lake’s popularity has swelled. Nowhere is this more evident than in the local Fire, Rescue and EMT services—most of which are served by local Volunteer Fire & Rescue Departments (VFDs).

Many of the VFDs serving Smith Lake communities struggle to obtain the equipment they need to do their jobs. Because Smith Lake is classified as a “non-navigable waterway” it is difficult, bordering on impossible, for these VFDs to qualify for FEMA or other federal grants. There has also been a paucity of State funds available to purchase and maintain VFD equipment—none of which is inexpensive.

A tragic boating accident on Smith Lake earlier this year left three dead and three injured, two seriously. This accident underscored the need for appropriate equipment to respond to the growing number of incidents on the Lake, as well as its shoreline.

ALPolitics.com spoke with Brandon Williams of the Crane Hill VFD about the challenges he and his fellow volunteers face every day.

“With Smith Like being in our backyard, the population is increasing exponentially every year. People are moving into the area every year, more and more and more,” Williams said. “So, lake rescue, lake incidents, lake accidents, things like that is what our biggest concern is today, because of all the influx of the people that's moving to the lake and entertainment on the lake. Our biggest problem recently was responding to the lake incident on Smith Lake.”

Crane Hill Fire & Rescue was one of the units that responded to the fatal accident on the Lake in April.

Williams discussed the large area his organization covers, saying “In Crane Hill itself, we probably responded to about 50 miles of shoreline. That's not any other department, just us.”

“Crane Hill has probably one of the biggest coverage areas of Smith Lake on the Cullman County side, and that coverage area goes several miles, going under three or four different bridges just to go from one end to the other of our coverage area,” Williams explained.

“You need a boat that's much newer, a little bit faster to get from point A to point B,” Williams said. “The boat that we have now does not meet the needs of Smith Lake anymore because it's just a slower boat, and it's not designed for what we need on Smith Lake.”

“A few years ago, we quoted a new rescue boat, not like a state of the art boat, but just to meet the needs we have here, with a fire pump on it, and to do rescue operations off of it and to recover victims.”

“The last several years, we average probably one to two drownings a year on Smith Lake.” Williams pointed out. “The boat that we had spec’d out to meet the needs of Smith Lake was about $325,000 5 years ago. About two months ago that same boat is over $600,000. So, we're we're looking at about, ballpark, $640-$650,000 just to buy the boat you need to meet the needs of Smith Lake today.”

“We have used our boat to fight fires on Smith Lake, house fires, to put grass and wood fires out. We've used our boat on Smith Lake to help people that fell on the side of the bank that cannot go back up the hill. We have come and rescued them off the side. Maybe they might've been hurt, or just couldn't make it up the hill, and we've taken them, put them on our boat, carried them around to a boat ramp to go to meet an ambulance.

“The boat probably will see at least five or 6, to 10 incidents within just a summertime. We hope it's less than that, but we had one major incident two months ago where three people lost their lives on Smith Lake and two were seriously hurt. It took all day that day just to help with that situation, that accident on the Lake.

“That one call already this year, the boat would pay for itself, because we're able to rescue people out of the water,” Williams concluded.

Volunteers like those who staff Crane Hill Fire & Rescue are not compensated for their time and efforts on behalf of those they serve. They have jobs and families, but choose to train and respond to their fellow citizens in time of need.

ALPolitics.com commends them for their dedication and service. We hope that raising awareness of their issues will assist them in getting the support they need.

Below is a picture of the type of rescue boat Crane Hill needs. Note the drop-down prow and crane lift, to make recovering injured from the water easier and more efficient, the cabin to get rescuers out of the element, and twin water cannons for fire control and suppression.