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One-month lifeline keeps Chester Gap paramedics in place

by | Mar 7, 2026

Staff at Chester Gap Volunteer Fire Department in 2024: EMT Jennifer Shannon (left), Captain Jessie Swan, fire chief Todd Brown, and Captain Chris Eamich. (File photo/Luke Christopher)

The Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors (BOS) on Monday approved a contingency plan that keeps the paid EMS program at Chester Gap in place — for now — after the Warren County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to allocate $15,1000.

If Warren County commits to renegotiating the agreement in April, the Chester Gap model could continue while terms of the agreement are worked out. If not, Rappahannock will move forward with establishing its own paid EMS presence in Flint Hill.

According to County Administrator Garrey Curry, Warren County’s allocation will cover EMS services through about May 6.

Chair and Wakefield Supervisor Debbie Donehey said Tuesday that Warren County will make a decision about going forward with the shared cost agreement after a final review and potential approval of a fire and rescue staffing study at the end of this month.

“We all agree that we can’t keep doing this three months, three months, three months,” Donehey said at Monday’s meeting. Rappahannock has been covering the cost of Warren County’s share three months at a time since August in order to keep the program running and to avoid gaps in service, officials have said.

The shared, paid paramedic model based at the Chester Gap Volunteer Fire and Rescue station began during the COVID-19 pandemic as volunteer staffing declined. Roughly 60% of Chester Gap EMS calls originate in Warren County. Warren signaled last year that it would stop contributing to the partnership, and since August, Rappahannock has spent about $93,000 to keep the program running in both counties.

While the Warren County BOS allocated funding for roughly one month, the Rappahannock board expected Warren to vote to approve three months of funding for the program, totaling $45,300.

Rappahannock Supervisors on Monday expressed frustration that any new contribution from Warren County does not account for the total amount Rappahannock has already paid. 

“​​The Warren County Board could commit three prospective months of funding, but with no recognition of what we’ve done on their behalf … and there lies a fundamental inequity,” Hampton Supervisor Keir Whitson said. “And there lies strong opinions from my constituents, who I hear frankly say, ‘Why are we floating a program with our tax dollars for Warren County?’”

Cost of staffing has also gone up since then, and Curry explained that because the paid EMS providers’ wages were increased to help Chester Gap recruit and retain staff — and Warren County did not raise its contribution to match that — the department has had to use its own funds to cover the rest of the cost.

“Rappahannock County is paying maybe half, Warren County [previously paid] maybe 40% and Chester Gap is paying the balance to close the gap,” Curry said. “The most recent audit shows that there’s very little in the bank at Chester Gap right now.”

The vote comes weeks after a standing-room-only town hall at the Chester Gap fire department, where residents warned that relocating the paid EMS unit to Flint Hill could significantly increase response times in parts of northern Rappahannock and neighboring Warren. 

“Our backs are against the wall,” Piedmont Supervisor Gary Settle said. “Hopefully [Tuesday] will generate more conversation for them to continue in their budget session and their work sessions … we’ve got to solve this problem.”

Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner.
    Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.
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By Ireland Hayes

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Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.