Crawford and Salem residents are reacting after a meeting to discuss the termination of a contract between local fire departments, while officials are working to resolve the issue.
Residents, commissioners, fire chiefs, volunteer firefighters, and other local and state officials gathered at the Crawford Community Center to discuss the “unilateral decision” of terminating the 1992 contract. The contract between the Salem and Crawford volunteer fire departments agreed that Crawford would serve a part of Lee County.
In the contract, the Crawford Volunteer Fire Department is paid for providing fire protection to a portion of the Salem Fire District’s territory using fire protection fees that come from property taxes assessed in the area. Currently, residents within that area pay $50 per structure on their property at the end of the year, which is included in their property tax. Salem then remits to Crawford based on the number of houses in the coverage area, which comes out to approximately $50,000 a year.
The agreement was eventually terminated in September of 2025 during the Board of Directors of the Salem Volunteer Fire Department meeting. The termination of the contract came after officials with Salem said it no longer represents the best interests of Salem and the affected residents.
Following the termination, Crawford and Salem residents within Lee County raised concerns at a Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, Lee County Commission meeting, prompting tonight’s open house.
During the community meeting, attorney Russell Bush, representing Salem Volunteer Fire Department, and captain and secretary, Kyle Butler, representing Crawford Volunteer Fire Department, discussed their perspectives.
Salem Volunteer Fire Department’s Perspective
Bush spoke first during the meeting. Bush claims the core issue behind the termination falls on calls that were routinely sent to Crawford first, but Crawford declined to respond, forcing Salem to answer them instead. Salem fire officials believed it was paying Crawford without receiving full service, while Salem fire officials continued answering both fire and medical calls in the affected area.
Over the last six years, according to Bush, about 229-230 bounced back to Salem, most of which were medical calls.
During the initial conversations in 2025 regarding the department, Bush says Crawford fire officials told him that the agreement only required them to provide fire protection and not to respond to medical calls.
Bush says despite that, medical calls make up a majority of 911 calls.
When it comes to the agreement and the language in it, Bush says, “the 1992 agreement may have been illegal from the start” because Lee County funds cannot be paid to a fire department outside the county, and prior legal opinions have said such arrangements are not allowed. Crawford is based in Russell County, but has a station located in Russell and Lee counties, and limited liability company licenses in both.
Bush also disputed claims that fire protection was compromised, stating Salem and Smiths Station fire departments responded and extinguished the fire on Lee Road 201 under existing mutual aid agreements. Bush said Crawford never responded.
Bush said claims that insurance ratings would rise are uncertain, noting that not all insurers rely on Insurance Service Organization ratings, which are based on how far a fire station is and the closest hydrant. Bush’s claim was counteracted by several officials and citizens in the room, stating that ISO ratings are used by nearly all insurance companies.
Bush closed his statements by saying Salem will continue to answer both fire and medical calls in the area, with mutual aid as needed.
Crawford Volunteer Fire Department’s Perspective
Butler spoke next to the large group of attendees. Butler immediately rejected the claims that Crawford did not respond to medical calls, saying those claims are “completely false.”
According to Butler and online records, Crawford is the only volunteer department in both counties providing advanced life support, along with their trucks carrying cardiac monitors, medications, narcotics, and other supplies. Those trucks can be staffed by emergency medical technicians, advanced emergency medical technicians, and paramedics. East Alabama Health Emergency Transportation Services provide 24-7-365 service to those in an emergency, and are aided by volunteer firefighters.
When it comes to fire and medical calls, Crawford responds “to the best of its ability” as staffing limitations are common across all volunteer departments, according to Butler. “Crawford has never declined a call, and any missed calls are due to staffing challenges, which mutual aid agreements are designed to assist with,” Butler said.
Crawford claims there were instances where it was not notified by Lee County dispatch, but according to Butler, Crawford worked with Lee County years ago to allow direct paging, bypassing inter-county dispatch delays.
Currently, Crawford fire officials are asking to not raise fire fees, and for the county commission to permanently zone the area as Crawford’s fire protection zone and direct existing fees to Crawford and not add new ones.
Butler says Insurance Service Organization ratings do affect homeowners’ insurance, with Crawford labeled a class 3, and Salem being labeled a class 5, but properties more than five miles from a station jump to ISO 10, the worst rating.
Butler says Crawford will continue to answer fire and medical calls, and maintains they have the resources and personnel to serve the area. Butler says Crawford is asking for formal zoning and direct remittance of existing fees, not higher taxes.
Impact on the Citizens
Following the termination of the contract, citizens continue to be impacted.
On December 21, 2025, a fire began at a home along Lee Road 201. The fire began on the back porch area of the home. Smiths Station Fire Protection District was dispatched to the scene and responded from the station on Lee Road 430, 14 minutes away. The Salem Volunteer Fire Department was sent to the scene and responded from their station on U.S. Highway 280, 15 minutes away from the scene. Crawford was never sent, despite both stations being less than 10 minutes away from the scene. Radio traffic obtained by CNAW2News.com via Broadcastify.com advised the home was fully engulfed and all occupants were out of the home at the time of the call.
Smiths Station Fire Chief Blake Green says his department responded with one engine, which is standard operating procedure, and the department was never lost. Green says claims that the department was lost is false, as his crews did respond to the correct address, but were searching for the closest fire hydrant.
Fire officials declared the home, which belonged to an elderly female, a total loss. Her family said all the pictures are gone, but at least she has the memories. The woman and her dogs were not injured in the blaze.
Bush, representing Salem Volunteer Fire Department, could not answer the question of how many calls the department did not respond to. Each call in that area of the department takes approximately a 20-minute response time, depending on Salem.
Many citizens, including Joy Heard, who moved to the Crawford-Salem area several years ago, are entrusting Crawford to respond to calls. Since the termination, Heard says she is terrified right now.
“If I do not have a fire station that can respond quickly, I am scared that the same thing could happen again,” Heard said, referencing a fire she was impacted by when she was 10. “It’s a nightmare right now.”
Heard is no stranger to calling 911. In 2020 and again in 2022, her husband suffered heart attacks. She said Crawford firefighters responded to both incidents before the ambulance and began using monitoring equipment, administering medication, and stabilizing him. She said if it were not for Crawford, she would not know what would happen to her husband. Thankfully, today, her husband is doing well.
“We need to come to an agreement as adults,” Heard said. “It affects children, middle-aged adults, and the elderly – everyone in this area. If these two fire departments do not work together and compromise, everyone will suffer. The solution is simple: talk, work together, and agree.”
Other residents, like Ronald Blanton, who was a witness to the Lee Road 201 fire, echoed that and hope this was not just “another meeting” and that the solution comes quickly.
Where The Situation Stands
During the meeting, Bush and Butler acknowledged the fact that recent fires, including one off of Lee Road 240 and one on Lee Road 401, both got a response from Crawford and Salem officials.
Butler said Crawford was the first apparatus on scene of the skid steer fire on Lee Road 401, while Salem showed up to the scene before them in a personally owned vehicle with no apparatus equipment.
An unidentified Salem firefighter, the only member of the department who identified himself to show up to the meeting, in the crowd, pointed out he was the official in a personally owned vehicle.
“If your house is on fire, do you want me to go 10 miles to a station to get a truck and come back?” the firefighter said. The crowd all answered “absolutely! What are you going to do without a truck?”
The firefighter said responding directly helps with saving lives, while apparatuses are en route. “I want to worry about your safety first,” the firefighter said. “If you have a kid in there, or if you are in there, I would rather go in there and save your life, or any kid’s life in there, over that house.”
Bush never added to the firefighter’s statement on how Salem responds to calls, while Butler says Crawford’s policy requires their firefighters to respond to stations first to ensure apparatus — not personal vehicles — arrive on the scene.
The firefighter eventually left, with Bush being the only one left to represent Salem.
Near the end of the meeting, resident, Lisa Haywood, asked the attorney, “Who would he want to respond if he lived on the Russell-Lee county line, Crawford or Salem?”
“Whoever gets there,” Bush said. “They are volunteers, they are passionate about this stuff. You know, whoever comes and answers my call, I am glad that a volunteer has come to answer my call.”
After the meeting, Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said emergency 911 dispatchers are dispatching all the agencies in the area while the situation is being resolved.
“Our primary concern is just to ensure that there is a response to any emergency to take care of the circumstances, regardless of which area it is in,” Jones said. “That is our position. It is about serving the public, and it is about trying to protect people, and that is exactly what we intend to do.”
Following the meeting, Lee County District 3 Commisioner Jeff Drury says there are next steps that will take place.
“Our next step is trying to get Crawford and Salem volunteer fire departments to the table, to reach a mutual agreement that is in the best interest of the people,” Drury said. “We just want everybody to be safe.”
In the meantime, residents continue to be concerned about their safety.
CNAW2News.com was the only news outlet at the meeting. This is a developing story.
To those wishing to the read the packet of information attendees were given, you can download it below:
