GREENWOOD – A discussion among eight local officials and fire chiefs Thursday afternoon led to the suggestion of funding Oxford County’s fire departments through the county.

It followed two workshops earlier this month to talk about problems facing rural volunteer fire departments, including daytime coverage, funding and retaining volunteers.

Chief Jim Owens of the Greenwood Fire Department suggested that having the fire departments funded through county rather than local taxes would lead to a more equitable distribution of money.

“You’re always going to have some towns that are very favorable toward their fire departments and some that aren’t,” Owens said.

He said large equipment purchases, such as new fire engines, are difficult on small towns like Greenwood, and county funding could provide relief. Owens said such a system would free local chiefs of some of their administrative work and allow local departments to remain autonomous, although chiefs would lose control over some areas such as specific equipment purchases.

Loretta Mikols, chairwoman of the Greenwood Board of Selectmen, suggested that a staff of paid county firefighters might be dispersed throughout the county to help provide daytime coverage. Fire chiefs have said many volunteers work outside of the area during the day, leading to potential shortages and increased mutual aid from neighboring towns.

However, Owens cautioned that hiring and equipping full-time county firefighters would lead to higher costs for the county.

Chief Scott Hunter of the Oxford Fire Department also spoke in favor of a county system.

“I’d estimate you could probably take care of 80 percent of those issues that are on those pieces of paper,” he said, referring to lists of problems drawn up during the workshops.

The group also discussed other possible solutions. Steven Wallace, executive director of the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce, said direct contact is needed with local businesses to allow volunteer firefighters to leave work in the event of a serious emergency. Scott Parker, director of the Oxford County Emergency Management Agency, said smaller businesses should also be approached on the issue.

Wallace said firefighting courses might be added to the curricula of technical schools to develop a younger pool of volunteers, and the chamber might assist in a public education campaign.

Hunter noted that there are 27 pieces of fire department apparatus between the stations in Norway, Paris and Oxford. Chief Brad Frost of the Paris Fire Department said he would be able to retire some of his equipment, providing the stations were adequately staffed.