SMITHFIELD – In June 2023, Johnston County staff members, with support from County Commissioners, meticulously researched and began to lay the groundwork for a single County fire protection service district slated for implementation in fiscal year 2024-2025.
Currently, each contracted area is funded through an individual service district which includes 26 total service districts. With the creation of a single County fire protection service district, there will only be one service district that covers the entire County outside of the incorporated areas with the exception of the Town of Wilson’s Mills. All funding for each contracted fire agency will then come from the single service district.
In preparation of moving to a single County fire protection service district, the goal of the Commissioners, County staff, and the fire service committee is to provide as much information related to the process as possible. One method of sharing this information with our citizens and community business partners is to hold five public meetings throughout the County. Each meeting will be held at a different Johnston County high school. Please view the detailed schedule below and note all meetings will take place in the schools’ cafeteria.
| Date | Time | Location |
| 01/17/24 | 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm | West Johnston High School |
| 01/24/24 | 6:00 pm- 7:30 pm | Corinth Holders High School |
| 02/07/24 | 6:00 pm- 7:30 pm | Princeton High School |
| 02/17/24 | 10:00 am- 11:30 am | Smithfield- Selma High School |
| 02/21/24 | 6:00 pm- 7:30 pm | South Johnston High School |
These public information sessions are floating and we welcome you to stop by at your convenience. Direct mail notices will be provided to all impacted citizens and the Board of Commissioners will call for a public hearing at the completion of the public meetings.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact the Johnston County Fire Marshal’s Office at 919-989-5050.
– County of Johnston News Release
What is changing the name of the Fire Service to JOCO Fire going to do. I will tell you, NOTHING! I like the name Cleveland Fire Department and I am proud of the name and the men and women of the Cleveland Fire Department. This is our Fire Department so Mr. and Mrs. County Commissioners, LEAVE IT THE HELL ALONE!
No names are being changed. Sounds like you should go to one of these meetings.
I beg your pardon, but it was one of the commissioners who said they were looking to name the County Fire service JOCO FIRE.
exactly… I love our 50-210 Fire Department…these guys (and girls) deserve recognition for putting their lives on the line for the neighborhoods they serve not JUST JOCO…leave it alone. ……marking down each commissioner that votes FOR this….
All departments names will remain just as they are! The only thing you will see is that the fire tax will be collected at the same rate county wide and distributed out to the same departments you have today. The current individual service districts used to collect the fire tax money will go away and Johnston Co will be one big service district. The service district only deals with taxation for fire protection. All protection districts will remain the same, meaning the same department that services your area will continue to do so.
All of this is done in an effort to ensure that all departments are able to provide a level of service that the citizens need. I would encourage everyone to come out to a community meeting and discuss these changes with the fire service leaders and county staff that have been working on this for the last two years.
Chris Ellington, Fire Chief
Cleveland Fire Department
Thank you for clearing that up. I am verry proud of the men and woman of the Cleveland Fire Dept.
All department names will remain the same as they are today! The only thing that will see is that the fire tax will be collected at the same rate county wide and distributed out to the departments we have today. The current individual service districts used to collect the fire tax money will go away and Johnston County will become one big service district. The service districts only deal with taxation for fire protection. All response districts will remain the same meaning the same department which currently services an area will continue to do so.
All of this is done in a effort to ensure that all departments are able to provide a level of service the citizens deserve. I would encourage everyone to attend a community meeting and discuss these changes with the fire service leaders and county staff that have been working on this project for two years. Thank you for your support and we look forward to discussing this at one of the community meetings.
Chris Ellington, Fire Chief
Cleveland Fire Department
No names of any fire departments will be changed through this process. Each fire department will continue to function and maintain its identity. Each fire department is contracted by Johnston County to provide fire protection to our citizens in Johnston County and will continue to be contracted with throughout this process.
Cleveland Fire Department, 50/210 Fire Department, Blackman’s Crossroads Fire Department etc. will continue to function under their contract and identity.
Now for some background information to help our citizens understand the article. Fire departments operate and provide services based geographical boundaries which inherently create “districts”. Two types of districts include Insurance and Service Districts.
The Insurance District is the geographical area the Fire Department provides fire and rescue services within and also where their ISO (Insurance Rating) is applied. All Fire Departments will continue to provide fire and rescue services to these Insurance Districts.
The Service District is the geographical area that serves as a funding mechanism to the fire departments. Currently there are 26 separate service districts that collect 26 separate taxes to fund individual departments. Under this new plan, the 26 separate districts will be removed to create a Single County Fire Protection Service District to fund all of our departments.
Again, all fire departments will continue to serve the citizens of Johnston County. The goals of Johnston County Fire Service Leaders and County Staff are to support our contracted fire departments as they provide fire and rescue services to the citizens of Johnston County.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us! Also, we encourage you to attend any of the community meetings listed below.
01/17/24 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm West Johnston High School
01/24/24 6:00 pm- 7:30 pm Corinth Holders High School
02/07/24 6:00 pm- 7:30 pm Princeton High School
02/17/24 10:00 am- 11:30 am Smithfield- Selma High School
02/21/24 6:00 pm- 7:30 pm South Johnston High School
Thank you for your interest in this topic!
With best regards,
Ryan L. Parker
Fire Division Chief/Fire Marshal
JOHNSTON COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICES
Email: rparker@jocoes.com
Office Phone: (919) 989-5050 ext. 5729
Mobile Phone: (919) 501-3583
Mail: PO Box 530, Smithfield, NC 27577
Web: https://www.johnstonnc.com/es