CHRISTIAN COUNTY, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – Firefighters in Crofton will be taking over a nearby volunteer station due to lack of manpower. The Christian County Fiscal Court voted to approve the transfer of Mannington Fire and Rescue to the Crofton Volunteer Fire Department during their Jan. 13 meeting.

“I’ve heard from a lot of these departments it’s simply personnel and finding people to work with these fire departments,” said Judge Executive Gilliam. He credits this lack of recruitment to the time and physical commitment to the job and rigorous training. Combining the stations allows them to keep federal funding that is allocated to the departments while stretching resources and personnel.

It was clarified during the meeting that in order to meet the qualifications to operate, each fire station must have a chief and ten members. Located in north Christian County heading toward Nortonville, the Mannington station was not able to meet those qualifications without the help of Crofton. Eliminating the service completely from the area would impact the safety of nearby residence, as well as property insurance values for homeowners.

Struggles of Christian County volunteer departments

“It’s still a sad day in the community of Mannington,” said Magistrate John Bruce during the meeting. “They’ve had that fire department for a long, long time.” Magistrate Russ Guffey added that volunteer departments in Christian County are also bearing the weight of additional responsibilities aside from just fire rescue. This includes responding and training for open water rescue as well as HAZMAT.

Pembroke Fire Department recently spoke with Christian County Now about their struggles with acquiring grant money, with Fire Chief Nicholas Belair saying they have a hard time keeping up with equipment and maintenance costs. Their volunteer department also shares similar staffing issues and has hit a wall with recruitment in the area.

The change with Crofton and Mannington will not take effect until July of 2026, so the next few months will be focused on establishing boundaries and transitioning resources. Gilliam said is likely that they will see more consolidations like this in the future unless changes are made.

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