Nakina Fire & Rescue provides professional firefighting and emergency medical services, including Advanced Life Support (ALS) transport capabilities, to its districts and surrounding areas. With two stations and a third in development, we spoke with Chief Victor Jacobs to learn more about services, their ISO Class 6 rating, and the importance of their response times.

“Our mission is to provide the highest level of service to our community. Our main station is staffed 24/7 by ALS-certified crews with firefighters available. This staffing model reduces response times, which is critical in emergencies. For example, recently at approximately 1 a.m., we received a call for a chest pain emergency. Within five minutes of arriving on scene of the call, we used a 12-Lead ECG and confirmed the patient was having a heart attack. We quickly transported him to a helicopter for life-saving care.

We’ve earned an ISO Class 6 rating, higher than the standard, following a thorough inspection and evaluation of our equipment, response times, and operations, including simulations that showcased our team's capabilities. This rating is a strong indicator of our readiness and also helps reduce insurance premiums for district residents.

Chief Victor Jacobs

We’re working with the county on plans for a third station to serve the 22,000 new residential units that have recently been approved. And we have mutual aid agreements with Old Dock, Tabor City, Town of Brunswick, Williams Township and Brunswick County.

Our team is exceptional; they are dedicated, motivated, and committed to ongoing training. We offer training every Monday evening, some Saturdays, and whenever needed. Cross-training between fire and EMS is a key part of our program, which improves efficiency and teamwork.

Community involvement is also a top priority. I’ve appointed a Community Risk Reduction Specialist and Coordinator to focus on public education, school outreach and blood drives. We have a career fair coming up at Old Dock Elementary School, and we’ll bring our ambulance to engage with students. We also recently applied for a state grant to provide and install smoke detectors for those in need across our district.

We’re also grateful for a grant from BEMC, which helped fund safety supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for our team. It’s an expensive investment, but it makes a huge difference for our personnel’s safety on the scene.

Despite being one of the smaller departments in the county, we pride ourselves on delivering first-class service. We may be small, but we punch above our weight, so when you need us, you can count on us.”