MIDWAY — Midway’s volunteer fire department is sounding the alarm on problems within the department — problems they say the city council has failed to address.

The volunteer fire department has a roster of eight, and interim chief Jonathan Campbell said morale among the fire fighters is low as their requests for repairs and upgrades to equipment go unheeded.

“One of the main issues I have is the broken equipment,” Campbell said. “Not only can I not take care of my firefighters, they can’t do their job when they get on scene. It puts all of the people passing through the city of Midway and all the citizens of Midway at risk. When an accident happens and someone gets trapped in a vehicle, we cannot get them out because all of our extrication equipment is broken.”

And if Liberty County Fire Services can’t lend a hand, Campbell asked, “who do I call?”

“What aren’t the problems?” Midway volunteer fire fighter Harley Keefer said Monday evening. “We have equipment issues. We have equipment that is out of date. I’ve been a volunteer since 2015, and I’ve never seen something like this.

“This is going to get someone killed.”

Keefer took exception with Midway City Council not discussing the fire department at a Monday special called meeting, a meeting that was cancelled when there was not a quorum of council members available.

“This is the second or third time this has happened,” he said.

Mayor Levern Clancy announced at the start of Monday’s special called meeting that an injury to Council member Henry Stevens Jr. prevented him from attending — and without Stevens, there was no quorum to conduct business. The council is down to three members from four and since the mayor does not have a vote, that left only two voting members of council for Monday’s agendas.

Stevens’ absence negated a special called meeting and a subsequent city work session. The only topic on the public portion of the called meeting was the volunteer fire department.

Midway’s council meets twice a month and usually schedules a work session for the fourth Monday of the month.

Campbell said his pleas for the eight-man all-volunteer department’s equipment to get repaired have gone unheeded. Their station also has a myriad of problems, from torn and damaged insulation and multiple leaks.

“Any kind of repairs or maintenance that has been done has been from us volunteers,” he said. “We just had two brand new toilets put in a month ago and that’s because I put them in myself. The station leaks water. One of our light fixtures is full of condensation. The classroom part itself just leaks water, right through the ceiling tiles. It’s a mess. Everything is falling apart. I’ve been there 10 years and it’s just worse and worse and worse.”

The city is advertising for a full-time chief, and is advertising for other full-time fire fighter positions. Campbell said those salaries are more than $200,000 annually, but he said he’s been told by council members there isn’t money to fix the equipment.

“How can you afford personnel to come in if you can’t even afford to fix the station and the equipment that’s broken?” he said.

Campbell said he has not seen a budget for the fire department and he has documentation going back more than 15 months he has asked for the department’s equipment to get repaired. He also said state fire regulations mandate that the apparatus has to be under shelter and the city should either demolish the current station or build a new one.

“I think it would be cheaper to build a new station,” he said.

Campbell said he gets told by council members that “’we’ll get a quote, we’re working on it, we’re working on the money,’ and they keep asking me where to send it to get it fixed.”

“The lack of motivation to get anything fixed is what we’re really getting,” he said. “We’re not really getting answers.”

A station’s location also is important, Chief Campbell pointed out, because it affects ISO ratings and insurance premiums.

“It is important for the residents and the business owners,” he said.

Chief Campbell, a Midway native who now lives in Fleming, also had a response for a purported statement that the fire fighters had been given uniforms.

“I don’t give a damn about a shirt and a hat,” he said. “That’s not life-saving equipment. I need the equipment to do my job. If I can’t do my job, why are we here?

“All I can ask for is to better the fire service and the protection for the city of Midway,” Campbell said. “That’s all I want.”

The fire fighters, Campbell said, are at an impasse with the council on making the improvements the fire fighters are needed badly for the department. They also are wondering what their next steps will be — and if those steps will lead them out of the department.

“I don’t know,” Keefer said. “I don’t know what we’re going to do from here.”

The Courier sought responses from Mayor Clancy and Mayor pro tem Clemontine Washington but had not received any as of press time Wednesday evening.