Cowee Volunteer Fire and Rescue held the district’s first official community meeting following the 2025 merger of Burningtown-Iotla and Cowee fire districts, touting training numbers and response times to residents.
Chief Dustin Pendergrass said after the 2025 merger of the Burningtown-Iotla fire department he wanted to secure a better insurance rating (and more favorable rates) for Burningtown and Iotla residents. He reiterated that desire again on Sunday, Jan. 25, to community members who braved near-freezing weather and rain to attend the meeting.
According to Pendergrass, the state’s ISO (Insurance Services Office) rating helps determine the insurance rates property owners need to pay. The rating is determined every five years by assessing a combination of factors including membership, the locations of stations and apparatus and training hours. Cowee Fire earned a class three rating in 2023 compared to Burningtown-Iotla’s class four rating. Due to the merger, CVFR will retake the test in 2026. Pendergrass said it was a difficult task for a rural fire department to earn a class three rating but didn’t see any issues with being able to earn it again across the new combined district.
Pendergrass said earning a favorable ISO rating lowers insurance rates enough on average to more than make up for any fire taxes necessary to fund the department for most taxpayers, and scoring a three across the Cowee, Burningtown and Iotla communities would result in savings of between $500 to $600 per year depending on the provider.
Pendergrass said the department had managed to secure a 7-minute 55-second average response time for the whole combined district. He said many districts may struggle to make that same time. The combined district is 93 square miles and has a permanent population of more than 6,000.
The department responded to 526 calls in 2025 and 27 so far in 2026. It currently has 74 firefighters, seven junior firefighters, two administrative assistants and six auxiliary personnel.
Pendergrass said the department is equipped and trained to provide regular and wildland firefighting, medical response at the EMT-basic level and Hazmat response at the basic level. CVFR has swift water, dive and high-angle rescue teams. He said the department has the only K-9 search and rescue unit in the county, and in his 27 years with the department it has never missed a call.
Following the merger
In September 2025 Burningtown-Iotla Fire and Rescue’s contract with Macon County was terminated by county commissioners after the department spent more than a year on probation following a failed inspection in July 2024. While BIFR was on probation, CVFR was tasked with responding to calls in the district alongside BIFR. After the Burningtown-Iotla contract was terminated, Cowee Fire was tasked with responding to calls within the district.
Pendergrass said the new contract between CVFR and Macon County has been signed and all equipment and apparatus have been signed over to the new department, alongside the two fire stations in the district. CVFR has also assumed BIFR’s debt, adding $63,000 in annual expenses to cover the cost of the payments.
Pendergrass said nine former BIFR members have since joined Cowee Fire along with three new members. He said several other people have expressed interest. However, he did say three applications had been denied by members based on social media comments. Pendergrass said, “Negative talk and negative social media will get you nowhere with us.”
The department has spent $9,589 repairing apparatus and approximately $800 on replacing a furnace at the station on Daves Creek Road. Pendergrass said two 4x4 engines failed their pump tests and one would incur $15,000 in repairs, with the cost uncertain for the second. A roof at the Iotla station is leaking, but Pendergrass said two roofers said this was likely a condensation issue.
Government and budget
The board of directors is made up of 12 members, and Pendergrass said elections for some members are coming up soon. The board plans to add two seats to make sure Burningtown and Iotla are represented.
Pendergrass added the department would soon be entering its budget season. In the 2025-26 budget, CVFR’s $353,136 budget was added to BIFR’s $274,588 budget for a combined budget of $627,724. Burningtown-Iotla’s .0782 tax rate should lower to match Cowee’s .078 tax rate in July 2026 after the new fiscal year starts.