Firefighters from across Beaufort County filled the Superior Courtroom of the Beaufort County Courthouse on Monday night to hear a presentation by one of their own.

Capt. Ray Harris, with Bunyan Volunteer Fire Department, spoke to Beaufort County Board of Commissioners about the number of services volunteer firefighters provide to county residents and the training that enables them to respond to many types of emergencies. Harris said the presentation was purely informational and was prompted by events at January’s regularly scheduled commissioners’ meeting.

“There were several comments that led us to believe that you, as county commissioners, and also some of the citizens of Beaufort County, may not know what we do,” Harris told commissioners before his presentation.

The presentation was spurred by a discussion at January’s regular meeting, in which Commissioner Hood Richardson referred to volunteer firefighters as “Bubbas” while arguing against the county approving the surplus of two Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office vehicles to two EMS squads. Richardson later would explain on beaufortobserver.net that he did not mean the term in a derogatory fashion, though many volunteers interpreted the reference as an insult.

Harris explained that in addition to responding to structure fires, volunteer squads also are called to put out vehicle fires, marine fires, brush fires, respond to bomb threats and are often first on the scene at car accidents. They’ve also trained to respond to a variety of rescue situations, including those involving agricultural machinery and structures, fuel spills, land searches for missing persons, container leaks and provide support to other agencies during methamphetamine lab busts, active shooters, riots and terrorist attacks. They are first responders during natural disasters — hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding — and ride with FEMA officials to determine whether structures can be entered safely after the fact, Harris said.

He said there many other things volunteers do that the wider public doesn’t see: speeches to civic organizations and homeowners associations, smoke detector programs, especially those for low income families, community service projects and educating schoolchildren about how to get out of a burning building, as well as “Stop, drop and roll.”

“These things don’t involve a red light. They don’t involve a pager going off,” Harris said.

Harris said one of the more important aspects of what volunteers currently do is participate in pit crew CPR, in which multiple people keep up continuous compressions on a cardiac arrest victim. Pit crew CPR was introduced in Beaufort County in 2014, and all county firefighters have been trained to assist EMTs and paramedics in the method.

“I assure you that there have been a number of people in and around Beaufort County that have been saved by this CPR,” Harris said.

Harris said he estimates volunteer firefighters save the county the $12 million a year it would cost to fully staff three daily shifts of firefighters at the county’s 13 fire stations. Currently, 480 volunteers spend 275 hours a year in meetings, training and responding to calls, he said.

Harris’ presentation was capped off with a round of applause from the crowded courtroom and the accolades of several commissioners.

“You do it because you enjoy it; nobody’s twisting your arm,” said Jerry Langley, the Board of Commissioners’ chairman. “On behalf of this Board of Commissioners, we simply say thank you, and we salute you.”