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WALLACE — As a 43-year veteran in the service of his community, Wallace’s Sammy Marshburn has been to more than his share of emergency calls. From natural disasters, to vehicle accidents, to structure fires and far too many false alarms to count, Marshburn has answered when his town needed him.
Now, he has been selected from among his peers to lead the department where he began volunteering his time in 1982. Marshburn was elected by his fellow firefighters in a meeting last week. On Sept. 11, his election to the position was unanimously approved by the Wallace Town Council during their regular meeting.
He steps into a vacancy left by former chief, Taylor Johnson, who served in the position for two years until recently, when he took a new job in the western part of North Carolina.
Marshburn is stepping into the position with some challenges ahead of him. The department will be undergoing its required ISO inspection later this month, and the timing is not great. The department’s two main fire engines are out of service, and getting them repaired and back in service takes time, Councilman Jason Davis said Thursday evening.
ISO stands for the state Insurance Services Office, and the required inspections help to show a department’s ability to protect homes and businesses in a community from fire, said Wallace resident and retired arson investigator Henry Campbell.
Campbell spoke during the public comment portion of Thursday’s meeting. The ISO rating is important because it impacts the cost of homeowners’ insurance rates. Currently, the Wallace Fire Department has a rating of 3, which is very good for a town the size of Wallace, he said. If the rating is impacted by the disabled engines, then residents could see an increase in their homeowners’ insurance.
“It’s a very rare occurrence,” said Davis, who is also a member of the fire department. “In the seven years I’ve been in the department, we’ve never had this happen. They are doing everything they can to get them back up and running, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that we are down two engines right now.”
In other business, the council unanimously approved several resolutions to make a number of improvements to the Wallace Airport, located just outside of town in Pender County. Among the planned improvements are the relocation of a maintenance shop into a new hangar, the construction of two new taxiways and aprons, and a runway extension. The projects will all be funded through NC Department of Transportation grants totaling $1.22 million.
Airport Director Ben Jones said the improvements will enable more and larger aircraft to use the airport. When more pilots use the airport, they purchase more aviation fuel and that results in increased revenue.
“I’m already seeing a lot more traffic here because Wallace is a much easier place to land than Wilmington,” Jones said.
Pender County Commissioner Jimmy Tate was also unanimously appointed to the Airport Commission to replace former commissioner Fred McCoy. Tate will finish out McCoy’s term on the board, which ends in 2027.
