MIDWAY — For now, the Liberty County Fire Services is answering calls in the city of Midway.

Midway City Council member Clemontine Washington said at Monday night’s city council meeting the county is running calls in the city because of a lack of volunteers.

“The city is being protected by the county,” she said.

The all-volunteer department and the council have been at odds over several issues, including a lack of new or repaired equipment and a lack of communication, the fire fighters said.

Interim chief Jonathan Campbell and other volunteers have left the department, leaving the Midway Fire Department with only one volunteer — not enough to meet the state requirements, Campbell said.

Campbell said the city has to have five fully certified fire fighters to meet Georgia state compliance, and it is his knowledge the city has 30 days to do so. If they don’t meet the compliance standards, Campbell said, the department will be shut down.

“I dedicated over 10 years of my life to this department, and for it to get shut down like this …,” Campbell said.

Issues came to a head Monday evening. Campbell said he got a text message at 5:44 reminding him the station was closed. He in turn texted a firefighter at the station and told him not to be in the station and that he can’t be there because of the mold issue.

Campbell said since there were no signs on the bay doors, they have been running calls, and they took two engines to get fueled and later did an area survey in preparation for that night’s training session. When they returned, they were met by a Midway police officer, who said he responded to a call on two people in the station who should not be there.

Campbell said Mayor Laverne Clancy showed up and the mayor told him he could not be inside the station. Campbell said he replied that they were in the bay, not inside the station, and there was no mold in the bay.

When Clancy told him the county was going to cover calls, Campbell said the volunteers have been answering calls when they can, including responding alongside the county fire fighters to a structure fire the day before.

“I said, ‘it does matter, because I signed up to protect the citizens of Midway,’” Campbell said.

Campbell said they were told they cannot enter the bay and he asked the mayor how were they supposed to conduct their training. Campbell said Clancy told him the volunteers can do their training in the parking lot.

“I said, ‘how am I supposed to do training without my gear and without my truck?’” Campbell said. “I took my radio and handed it to him right there.”

Campbell said the mayor’s actions came across to him as retaliatory.

“I can’t work for somebody who is going to call the cops on me just for training,” he said. “Midway is my hometown and I have been a volunteer for over 10 years. It breaks my heart to have to walk away but I can’t risk my fulltime career over someone calling the cops on me because they have bad feelings. I don’t know what our next action plans are. We’ll just ride this road and see where it goes.”

Mayor Clancy responded August 2 in an email to the Courier that he did not think there was a lack of communication between the city and the fire fighters. Clancy said Washington, who is the council’s fire department liaison, gives council members regular briefings on meetings she has had with the deputy chief.

“The volunteer firefighters health and safety is important,” the mayor said. “We recently received quotes on repairing the department and during this process, we were also seeking full time firefighters. Now since the issues have changed, we will be meeting with the county officials to discuss fire services. And both engines were placed with the Midway Volunteer Fire Department by the county.”

Clancy said that the city council will do what is best for Midway’s residents after meeting with county officials.