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TIPPO — Anyone interested in becoming a member of the Tippo Volunteer Fire Department is asked to attend a reorganizational meeting on Thursday, July 21.

The gathering will get underway at 7 p.m. at the firehouse, said Tallahatchie County Fire Coordinator Linnie Maples, who may be contacted at 662-609-5128 for details.

Tippo’s fire department has been “relatively inactive, with two members, since Nov. 27, 2019,” Maples explained.

The dormancy did not result from a lack of equipment, but rather a dearth of warm bodies willing to serve.

“We have good equipment. We just need someone to operate it,” Maples noted, adding that a lack of training or experience “is not an issue.”

The coordinator said the Tippo department possesses a 1,250-gallon-a-minute pumper truck as well as a 3,000-gallon tanker truck that boasts a 750-gallon-per-minute pump.

While getting the Tippo department reorganized is the focus of the upcoming meeting in that community, Maples said there is a “desperate need” for volunteer firefighters at numerous departments throughout the county, citing Enid, Murphreesboro, Paynes, Teasdale and Vance as examples of others whose rosters need bolstering.

During a recent rural fire call, Maples said the Enid and Teasdale departments had just two firefighters to respond.  He said state regulations require an average minimum of four firefighters to show up in order to maintain the existing fire district insurance rating — presently an 8 in those areas, he noted.

Having solid apparatuses and a dependable utility infrastructure are important components in achieving and keeping a lower property insurance risk rating, but the half-million-dollar trucks simply cannot operate themselves or their equipment.

“Getting people to man the trucks is the big issue,” Maples explained recently.

While volunteer firefighters, as the name implies, are not paid for their services, they receive an annual $100 tag credit on one personal vehicle if they remain active.

“We are looking at other incentives, too,” the coordinator mentioned.

There is a minimum age requirement of 18 to be a firefighter and one must be at least 21 years old to drive a fire truck, Maples said.

Among the duties of volunteer firefighters are attending monthly meetings and periodic training sessions, inspecting and maintaining equipment and responding to emergencies, he noted.

However, Maples said even an older person or someone not able to perform physical firefighter tasks can have a place as a volunteer.

“There are things to be done other than fighting fires,” he explained, specifically mentioning keeping records and sending in reports to state officials.

In making a final appeal, Maples said, “A person’s service as a volunteer firefighter benefits the entire county in times of emergency, and it also benefits the firefighter and his community by helping to achieve and maintain a better fire insurance rate.”

In addition to contacting him at the aforementioned cellphone number, Maples said anyone who might be interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter may simply contact their local fire department.

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