Ten Firefighters hired in OC

Some new people will be fighting future fires in Oconee County. This week, Oconee County Emergency Services welcomed ten new firefighters, tells Oconee County Fire Chief Charlie King. “In recent weeks, we have gone out recruiting and be able to bring on six new budgeted employees that the Oconee County Council was able to get us including a handful that were re-instated. We had some turnover, so we have a total of ten firefighters that started with us Thursday and that will allow here in the next couple of weeks to put at least one firefighter in each of our volunteer stations during day time hours when our volunteers have obligations like work or school. This will allow us to provide a small bit of staffing in each one of our communities, so we are really looking forward to it. It will help us reduce our response time and get help out to our community faster.” Oconee County Emergency Services is composed of approximately 170 volunteers in the Rescue Squad and 450 volunteers in the Fire Service.