The Panola County Board of Supervisors last week resorted to a tried-and-true parenting technique – take the keys until you get their attention – in an effort to have better operating procedures at the Crenshaw Fire Department.

Panola County is served by numerous volunteer fire departments outside the municipal limits of the various communities, and the Crenshaw department is one of the oldest in the county. But a recent lack of communication with fire coordinators, and the supervisors themselves, resulted in the unusual tactic last week.

The truck and keys were scheduled to be returned to the Crenshaw station on Tuesday, following an executive session meeting on Monday at the Sardis Courthouse. In that meeting, the supervisors laid out a set of guidelines consistent with those in other county departments, and instructed Crenshaw representatives to closely follow the rules.

“We had a problem with communication and we weren’t getting the answers to questions we had asked,” said board president Cole Flint. “After Monday we have a good understanding now and the truck will be back in Crenshaw where it belongs.”

The supervisors were understandably upset, having recently delivered the $400,000 truck to the department, the same as the board did with the other 15 volunteer units.

Flint said the problems stemmed from Crenshaw volunteers using their truck to lend mutual aid to neighboring towns and counties – often because closer departments did not respond.

“We want to help our neighbors as much as possible, but we just aren’t insured to be putting out fires in Falcon and all over the Delta. We can’t put the county at risk trying to help somewhere else,” he said.

When Supervisor Earl Burdette saw the truck left unattended, and out of dock bay overnight, the supervisors made the decision (last Wednesday) to have the truck kept at another location until the matter could be resolved.

Flint said that before the truck was moved from Crenshaw, other departments were contacted and arrangements made to cover that part of the county. Additionally, the Town of Crenshaw has its own truck that was in full operational mode while the volunteer department’s truck was away.,