By Scott Mims

Local fire and rescue departments answered 5,634 calls in 2009, nearly 250 less than in the previous year.
The Clanton Fire Department answered the most calls at 1,462, followed by Jemison (669) and North Chilton (385). For the most part, units responded to a comparable number of calls in 2008.
Chilton County E-911 entered 64,874 calls into its CAD system, which was a significant decrease from 2008. During that year, more than 70,000 entries were made. The E-911 statistic includes fire and rescue calls, law enforcement calls, administrative calls and others.
E-911 Director Helen Smith said the decrease may be partially due to advances in communication equipment.
“A lot of officers are starting to use the MDT’s (mobile data terminals) now, and they do their own calling,” Smith said.
Also, in 2008, E-911 handled a high volume of dispatcher training and test calls, which would have been included in the statistic for that year’s calls.
“The volume has well increased in the past decade,” Smith said. “Ten years ago, we were barely using computers.”
Enterprise Fire Department saw an increase of more than 30 calls from 2008 to 2009. District Chief Raymond Hudman said new trailer parks in the area have increased the number of residents served.
Hudman said several new volunteers have come on board in the past year.
“We’ve had a good year personnel wise. We appreciate these young people coming on. A lot of them are in training now,” Hudman said.
The following is a listing of each fire department’s total calls for 2009:
•Clanton: 1,462
•Thorsby: 301
•Jemison: 669
•Maplesville: 176
•Union Grove: 315
•Fairview: 217
•East Chilton: 247
•Collins Chapel: 288
•West Chilton: 362
•Enterprise: 321
•South Chilton: 143
•Isabella: 116
•Verbena: 275
•Gap of the Mountain: 273
•North Chilton: 385
•Cedar Grove (recently formed): 62
•Plantersville (calls inside Chilton County): 22.

By Scott Mims

A north Chilton County family had a merry Christmas this year, thanks to the efforts of several volunteers.
The volunteers of North Chilton Fire Department, employees of Regional Paramedical Services, Sheriff Kevin Davis and deputies responded to a special call for help last week by purchasing food, gifts and clothing for a family of seven children.
In a time of economic hardship, these individuals dug into their pockets and found the true joy of Christmas — the joy of giving.
“We take for granted the needs of others in our community beyond the 911 emergency calls we respond to,” North Chilton Fire Chief Jason Scott said. “Sometimes the most simple acts of kindness provide the department members and families the greatest reward.”
A special “Christmas committee” was formed to coordinate the project. The committee comprised four NCFD volunteers — Katie Moon, Kevin Dennis, Jason Snipes and department chaplain Allen Foster.
The volunteers and employees also shopped for gifts and prepared food items. On Christmas Eve, vehicles from each department delivered the gifts and a home-cooked Christmas feast to the family.
“In this day and time, just to put food on the table is hard for some families. We are so blessed to be able to help this family this year. I just hope this starts a chain reaction, and the blessing continues,” Assistant Rescue Chief Kevin Dennis said.
North Chilton’s rescue chief, Jason Snipes, said the project was in the works even before the family’s need was known.
He said the family would not have been able to afford gifts on their own.
“This time of the year is full of miracles,” he said. “In this line of work, we see these miracles firsthand. It feels great to be able to be a miracle to a family — no doubt we were placed and sent here to do what we do.”

By Scott Mims

A Jemison man was killed and another man seriously injured in a head-on collision Tuesday, Dec. 8 north of Jemison.
Gregory Rollins, 46, of Jemison died on the scene, Chilton County Coroner Randy Yeargan confirmed.
The two vehicles, a passenger truck and a car, collided about 7 p.m. on U.S. Highway 31 just south of County Road 33. Rollins was reportedly the driver of the car. There were no passengers in either vehicle.
A section of Highway 31 was closed while emergency responders extricated both the injured man and the victim’s body. The highway was shut down for approximately four hours.
“It took us 12 minutes to extricate him,” North Chilton Fire Chief Jason Scott said, referring to the survivor. “It took over 30 minutes to extricate the body of the other victim.”
At the time of the crash, Scott was participating in a Lifesaver landing zone class along with members of North Chilton, West Chilton and West Shelby fire departments. The Lifesaver helicopter was supposed to fly down for the class but could not due to inclement weather.
“We already knew they couldn’t fly, so we never attempted to contact them after the wreck due to weather,” Scott said.