A state official instructed Greene County supervisors to allow the Ruckersville Volunteer Fire Company to resume operations three weeks before the county board reopened the firehouse it had closed a month and a half earlier without explanation.
The closure left more than 1,300 residents and businesses along the U.S. 29 corridor in Ruckersville to rely on fire stations miles away, and risked spiking insurance rates for property owners in the area.
The board voted to close the firehouse on May 13, informing fire officials two days later and the public days after that. County officials sent only a letter of "due diligence" explaining their reasoning to fire officials, citing operational deficiencies, financial concerns and “internal concerns by an active member.”
But state officials who reviewed the matter said operations should resume immediately and that any and all of county officials’ reasons could be addressed while the firehouse remained open.
“Stakeholders must take immediate action to return the RFD to operational status," Nicholas Nanna, the deputy director of the state Department of Fire Programs, wrote to the county after meeting with the Ruckersville Volunteer Fire Company on June 26. "There is a gap in service delivery that creates a liability for the County. Whatever complaints made or deficiencies noted can be addressed with due diligence."
Nanna sent his "Impressions from the Ruckersville VFD" to County Administrator Cathy Schafrik and Director of Emergency Services Melissa Meador on June 30. Records show that Schafrik sent Nanna’s findings to the Board of Supervisors four days later on July 3. The county did not open the firehouse until July 18.
“While the RFC expressed frustration with the situation, they are asking to be allowed to respond to emergency incidents while this situation works toward resolution. The RFC often referred to their seventy-year history of service and are perplexed that some recent disagreement is impacting on their ability to respond to Emergencies,” Nanna wrote.
“Without a formal discussion that clearly delineates the complaint against the RFC, the justification for suspension of dispatch of the RFC on emergency incidents, and clear metrics for remediation and return to service for the RFC, it is difficult to remediate the situation," he added.
Harold Richards, president of the Ruckersville Volunteer Fire Company, spoke with The Daily Progress shortly before the station was reopened to address the allegations made against the firehouse. He said the decision to shut down the operation was unmerited and put people and property at risk.
An unsolicited email
While not immediately disclosed, records obtained by The Daily Progress from Greene County show that a May 12 email from a Ruckersville firefighter to Stanardsville Fire Chief Dustin Clay preceded the board’s decision to shutter the firehouse a day later.
In that email, Sarah Baker listed more than 10 reasons that she and her son, who also volunteered at the fire station, were unhappy with the leadership there.
“During our time with the RVFC, we have faced several challenges that necessitate consideration, including a lack of support, inadequate training, unprofessional behavior from officers and significant issues with communication,” Baker wrote.
Her experience with Ruckersville left her with “diminished enthusiasm” and hurt her ability to serve the community, she said.
Baker said "badmouthing and gossip" as well as "favoritism, nepotism and cronyism" among firehouse leadership "warrant immediate attention" from both the Board of Supervisors and Meador.
“The perception that positions and responsibilities are awarded based on personal relationships rather than merit has created a sense of injustice, decreased motivation and harmed members’ faith in our officers,” Baker said.
Clay sent Baker’s email to Meador telling her that Baker was a “Ruckersville member looking to join us.”
According to Richards, the Ruckersville fire chief and assistant chief are elected positions. Chief Enoch Hord and his son Assistant Chief Cameron Hord were both elected by other firefighters at the station.
“This is a small county, and there will always be family members serving in the same departments,” said Richards.
Nanna agreed with Richards after visiting the Ruckersville fire station.
“It is often a core cadre that responds to most incidents, fund raisers, maintenance days, and training. These cadres are often multi-generational families, and it is not uncommon to see three generations of a family involved in some aspects of supporting these volunteer organizations,” Nanna said in his letter to the county.
Reckless driving
In its letter of due diligence, the county board cited criminal charges against the younger Hord.
According to court documents, the assistant fire chief was driving a Ruckersville fire engine April 12 on his way to a car accident involving a deer on U.S. 33. After passing the scene, he performed a U-turn to attend the scene of the wreck.
A sheriff’s deputy already on the scene deemed Cameron Hord’s U-turn reckless driving and charged him.
The deputy’s body-worn camera footage from the sheriff’s office obtained by The Daily Progress show the fire engine quickly passing the scene of the wreck before performing the U-turn. The deputy can be seen moving another man on the scene out of the way before saying, "Yeah, I’m going to have a word about that."
There was sufficient evidence for a guilty conviction, and on July 9, the younger Hord pleaded guilty to the charge in Greene County District Court — under the condition the conviction be dropped if he accumulated no more driving infractions for a year.
“This was not a matter for the BOS as it was appropriately adjudicated in Court," the Board of Supervisors told fire officials. "Given the ultimate verdict, the Board would like to know what actions RVFC have taken since the guilty plea."
“At this point, we’re reviewing next steps and if Cameron will be driving an engine in the future,” Richards said.
The county board also cited two other driving incidents:
“An RVFC engine returning from an incident (without lights and sirens) was speeding (73 MPH in a 55 MPH zone) clocked by a deputy sheriff” on Feb. 19.And another engine struck a deputy’s vehicle in December 2023, resulting in nearly $3,000 worth of damage.
Judges Road
In its letter, the board also cited the handling of an April 1 fire at a townhouse on Judges Road, which displaced four households.
The Stanardsville Volunteer Fire Department initially had command of the fire, but Ruckersville took over once Chief Hord arrived on the scene, according to Richards.
The chief deemed the fire “too intense” and called all firefighters to retreat from the townhouse to attack the blaze using a "master stream," water shot through the roof of a building.
“Two firefighters from another company ran inside, passing over command and putting themselves at risk of the roof collapsing or being hurt when the master stream started. Chief Hord’s son, Cameron, oversaw the master stream. The two firefighters who ran in the building did run back out. But they should never have bypassed command and run inside,” Richards said.
Richards is certain the firefighters who ran into the burning townhouse against command were not Ruckersville firefighters.
An independent review board cited "lack of incident command, improper risk assessment, inadequate communications, failure to follow standard operating procedures and lack of accountability" as operational deficiencies at the Judges Road fire.
Spill
The board’s letter goes on to cite a "hazardous material incident" on April 23.
"At a hazmat incident on April 23, 2025, concerns were raised by RVFC and Emergency Management about incident command and lack of coordinated communications. As this is a recurring theme, this is of concern to the BOS. It can best be addressed with a Memorandum of Understanding," the county reported in its review of the firehouse made public Monday.
“After nearly 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled at the top of Route 33, Ruckersville Fire responded to help with the hazmat situation on April 23,” recounted Richards.
“Ruckersville completed what was required,” a source close to the matter told The Daily Progress on the condition of anonymity. “Local and state officials discussed the incident and standard operating procedures after the event. Melissa Meador was assigned to cover the procedure and return the review to county officials.”
According to that source, Ruckersville fire had nothing further to review regarding the spill, even though the "due diligence" review requested it.
Missed training
According to the county board, Ruckersville fire officials had not participated in county-initiated active-threat training.
But according to Richards, the nearly 20-person Ruckersville crew had not missed or been willingly out of compliance with any training prior to the allegation being made.
Firefighters did miss training, though, scheduled for the same day the firehouse was shut down.
“The training was held at 8 a.m. on Tuesday May 13, making it difficult with little notice for our all-volunteer department who all have other jobs during the day,” Richards said.
By 6 p.m. that same day, the department was closed.
The county maintains it made multiple requests for firefighters to be in attendance.
"Despite three requests for participation and confirmation of attendance, there was no response from RVFC nor did anyone from RVFC attend the May 13, 2025 training,” the county said in its review released Monday.
The Daily Progress has requested information from the county about the training and when the fire company was initially invited but never received any documentation.
Response time
According to the county, there has been a “documented decline in RVFC’s ability to respond to emergency calls in the weeks leading up to the ‘May 13, 2025 letter.’"
Richards pushed back against that claim.
“We are trained and uphold the highest standards for training,” he said. “Our apparatus is maintained and inspected, so we’re always ready to respond.”
According to documents Richards shared with The Daily Progress, Ruckersville Fire responded to 84.5% of all calls for emergency assistance from January 2024 through February 2025. Stanardsville and Dyke’s fire companies responded to 67% of calls.
A “call response log” released by the county in its review shows similar-to-shorter response times to calls prior to the firehouse being closed.
After the Ruckersville fire station was closed, Stanardsville and Dyke’s response times crept up as a result.
Taxpayer dollars
Greene County officials additionally asked fire officials review the taxpayer-funded "apparatus replacement program."
According to Richards, the county gives a portion of necessary funding to new apparatus for fire companies.
Ruckersville Fire began the process of ordering a tanker truck costing $800,000 nearly two years ago. Greene County is expected to pay about half of that amount once the truck is built, with the other half of the money coming from Ruckersville Fire’s own fundraising and grants.
The county alleged that Ruckersville Fire had not provided proof of the contract with the company manufacturing the truck.
“Before county officials would write a check for a chassis for a tanker truck, we were asked to provide the contract. We sent confirmation of the ordered chassis when requested to Melissa Meador,” said Richards. “On May 18, I supplied the county with the copy of the canceled check and the invoice.”
The county told Ruckersville Fire the financial portion of the “due diligence” review was “met” on May 28.
Moving forward
Even with the firehouse in Ruckersville reopened, Nanna, the state fire official, says the county must do more to protect its residents and improve cooperation and coordination among officials and firefighters.
Nanna recommended in his letter to the Board of Supervisors a countywide “play book” for operations between the three fire companies in Ruckersville, Dyke and Stanardsville.
“There needs to be some leader identified to lead the whole system out of the current morass and into the next phase of service to the citizens of Greene County,” said Nanna.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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