BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Martin County Emergency Management and 911 are preparing for an anticipated surge in visitors at the upcoming Harvest Fest, where country music artist and American Idol winner Noah Thompson is set to perform Sept. 14. EM director Clyde Adams and 911 director Nick Endicott shared their enhanced emergency plans with the Kiwanis Club during a luncheon Thursday at Masterpiece Kitchen & Café in Inez.
Adams, who assumed his role about three weeks ago, brings 37 years of experience as a firefighter to the position.
“I am really looking forward to serving the people of Martin County,” Adams remarked. “I’ve been here all my life and I know a lot of people throughout the county.”
Among Adams’ immediate goals is the establishment of additional warming stations in anticipation of the winter season.
“We all know how often we lose power,” he noted. “There are a lot of people who don’t have the luxury of just hopping into a vehicle and going somewhere. I want to arrange transportation for these people without power.” He reflected on his time as a firefighter, during which he frequently delivered medications to homebound individuals. “That’s something I want to work on—getting people to our warming shelters,” he said.
Currently, Martin County has six operational warming shelters, but Adams wants to double that number.
“My goal is to have 12, and contacts and phone numbers made available,” he explained. “Then if need be, if you have no power, if you have no water, if you’re low on medicine or if you’re out of whatever it may be, we’ll have a chain of command and make these deliveries to whoever may need them. If I can do that in my first six or seven months in this job, I’m going to feel that I’m off to a good start.”
Adams also assured the Kiwanis members that he would prioritize clear communication regarding emergency road closures.
He and Endicott are planning to assess the Martin County Solar Project at Martiki, citing the need for preparedness in case of an accident.
“Heaven forbid that there be some type of accident, but that is on my to-do list,” Adams said, referencing lessons learned from the Pontiki tipple collapse on Wolf Creek last fall, where two men lost their lives. “As far as responding to something that you don’t see every day, the solar farm would be right up there with that.”
Endicott, who grew up in Martin County and often jokes about spending his early years “in a playpen at the firehouse,” reflected on his journey to becoming the 911 director.
“A few years ago, I had the opportunity to step into this role and work with Emergency Management,” he said.
Endicott has been instrumental in securing grants for advanced communication equipment, including a $73,000 grant that provided 60 radios for responders across the county.
The Pontiki tipple collapse last fall exposed weaknesses in the county’s emergency communication systems, according to Endicott.
“We found out at Pontiki that we had no communication other than radio,” he shared. “If the wind blew the right way we might get a bar [cellular] back on the hill.”
Through partnerships, 911 has since secured Starlink satellite internet to address the communication gap that the EMS faced at Pontiki.
Endicott has also overseen the conversion of a donated school bus into a mobile command post equipped with Starlink and a communications tower capable of communicating with radio frequencies used nationwide. This mobile unit will be deployed at the Noah Thompson concert.
“It’s a different scenario than we’re used to,” Endicott said, noting that Lawrence County saw a crowd of 2,000-3,000 people at a recent Noah Thompson concert. “Our area is a lot smaller.”
The concert plan includes coordinated transportation, a Patriot Ambulance mobile triage, a first-aid tent, and on-site medical and emergency response teams. Additionally, supplies will be on hand to assist the crowd as needed, with side-by-sides available for first responders to navigate the area efficiently.
Kiwanis announced that free trolly service will be available Saturday, Sept. 14, from 1 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., roundtrip from four parking locations: Frank Horn Field, IGA parking lot, the Collier Center and the Martin County Swimming Pool (after the parade).