The growing needs of volunteer fire departments involve turning to tax increases for some areas.
Fire chiefs in Selma and Archer Lodge hope the Johnston County Commission will approve requests to raise rates on property taxes by 0.02 percent in the next budget. The county's Emergency Services Fire Marshal, Adam Stanley, said the Thanksgiving Volunteer Fire Department is also asking for the 2-cent fire tax increase within its fire district.
Selma Chief Phillip McDaniel said the biggest need is replacing their 27-year-old ladder truck, which went into service in Selma in 1993.
"We run about 1,200 calls a year here, and it runs every structural-related call. We call it the workhorse of the fleet," McDaniel said. "It performs the grunt work on a house fire or anything like that. We're looking to replace it with a truck that can even do a little bit more. It will be more rescue-type duty so we'll actually get a little bit more service out of it."