Page 121 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2018

FIRST RESPONDERS safety first JACKSON COUNTY
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Protecting life and property
Being a first responder is no easy task, especially in rural areas. The Jackson County Fire Department is divided into individual response areas
that receive radio dispatches directly from the Sheriff’s Department. With so much area to cover, some of which isn’t as easily accessed as in the city, it takes a strong team to successfully respond to each emergency call they receive.
The Jackson County Fire Department is specially equipped to handle terrain that is specific to the area. With 31 percent of the county being made up of water — including large blueways such as the Pascagoula River and marshlands, which are prone to flooding — the Jackson County Fire fleet has been modified to fit the area’s needs. “Not only do we have a fleet
of high water trucks, we also have three boats that are dedicated to water rescue,” said Chief Earl Etheridge. “Following Hurricane Isaac, we were able to facilitate more than 400 high water rescues.”
While we usually think of fire departments exclusively as fire protection agencies, they do much more than that. “We are first responders in any emergency and are trained in medical response, water rescue, and even have a hazardous materials team,” Etheridge said. “In 2017 alone we answered 3,883 calls.”
Jackson County’s wealth of industry is why the fire department emphasizes hazardous materials training. As the fire department is often the first on
the scene, especially in the county’s
story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster
photo courtesy of Jackson County Fire Department
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JACKSON COUNTY Fire Department has to be ready for any emergency.
rural areas, being able to respond to emergency situations involving chemicals or potentially hazardous materials is of high importance.
One of the cons to living in unincorporated areas can be the lack of emergency response services, but Jackson County has 26 fire stations which are equipped with at least 11 paid firefighters on duty 24 hours
a day. This doesn’t include the countless volunteers who help provide fire protection outside of the four incorporated cities.
“We have two main objectives,”
Etheridge said, “to provide professional fire protection to rural property owners and lower the cost of fire insurance rates.”
The time and effort that the fire department puts into the upkeep and documentation of its equipment help with those costs, and ultimately keep homeowners safe outside city limits.
Jackson County Fire
www.co.jackson.ms.us
600 Convent Ave, Pascagoula, MS 39567 228.769.3110