The Goode Volunteer Rescue Squad has closed down operations in Bedford County after serving locally since 1995. The primary factor leading to the squad’s closure was inadequate staffing, said Bill Bowen, chair of the rescue squad’s board of directors, which made the decision to close last year.
The former squad of about eight volunteers was only able to answer 40 to 50 calls per year, Bowen said, and had responded to no calls in its last year of operation. Most calls were answered by the county’s service instead.
Finding new volunteers was increasingly challenging for the agency in its final days.
“Volunteerism is down,” Bowen said.
The former Goode squad’s volunteers have applied to join Bedford County Fire and Rescue’s volunteer program, Bowen said.
“They want to give back to their community,” Bowen said of the former Goode volunteers.