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a <br />Introduction <br />The purpose of this report is to discuss the legal responsibilities of the County in the area of fire <br />protection services, how a county can legally provide and fund fire services, and compare fire <br />protection methods used in Orange County to similarly sized counties in North Carolina. <br />Legal Responsibilitiesl <br />Summary of Law <br />Counties are not required by law to provide fire protection. However, as the demand for fire <br />protection outside city limits is growing, counties are more often providing rural fire protection. <br />Ways Counties Can Provide Fire Protection Services <br />There are a variety of ways counties can legally provide fire protection and prevention services. <br />Under G.S. 153A-233 a county may: <br />• Establish, equip, support, and maintain its own fire department <br />• Provide financial assistance to incorporated volunteer fire departments <br />• Contract for fire-fighting and prevention services with other counties, cities, other units <br />of local government, State agencies, or one or more incorporated volunteer fire <br />departments <br />• Designate fire districts and prescribe boundaries for insurance grading purposes <br />Establishing a County Fire Department <br />While a county can establish its own fire department under G.S. 153A-233, counties generally do <br />not use this option. Rather, they contract with city or, more often, volunteer fire departments. <br />Contracts with Cities <br />Under G.S. 160A-293, if a contract is made between a city and a county or a city and the owner <br />of private property a city may install and maintain water mains, hydrants, and other equipment <br />outside its corporate limits. The city may also send fireman and equipment outside its limits to <br />provide protection. Employees of the city fire department have the same privileges and <br />immunities that they have within the city limits while engaged in a duty at the order of the Fire <br />Chief or City Council outside of the city: <br />Contracts with Incorporated (Rural) Volunteer Fire Departments <br />G.S. 153A-233 gives a county the right to make a contract with one or more incorporated <br />volunteer fire departments to provide rural fire protection in a designated area for a fixed fee. <br />"When a county enters into a contract with a volunteer fire department...the volunteer department <br />then functions as a county fire department for all intents and purposes"2. The area protected by <br />this department is designated by the board of county commissioners and generally referred to as <br />an insurance district or response district. <br />1 The information in this report was found in: <br />Denning, Shea R and Richard D. Ducker. County and Municipal Government in North Carolina Article 33: <br />Fire Protection. School of Government i7NC-Chapel Mill: 2007 <br />Loeb, Ben F. Fire Protection in North Carolina: Fifth Edition. Institute of Government UNC-Chapel Hill: <br />1993 <br />North Carolina General Statutes <br />a County an Municipal Govenunent Article 33 p. 2 <br />