Volunteer fire services at risk in Sumner County

SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) -- The services of Sumner County’s volunteer fire departments are in limbo.

The county’s budget committee voted against increasing the funds for their nine volunteer departments on Tuesday night.

The volunteer fire departments have been asking for the county to increase their annual funding to over a million dollars. That money would then be divided up amongst the 13 fire stations.

Currently, the county has allocated over $600,000 to the departments.

It's estimated that over 70,000 Sumner county residents rely on the services of volunteer fire.

Without a bump in funding, several people within the volunteer fire community have told News 2 a county-wide fire department shutdown is possible.

“This is whether we keep the doors open or closed kind of funding,”