Are towns eligible to participate?
Only those towns with a population greater than 5,000 that choose to have an official Emergency Management organization separate from their county are eligible to participate as a Requesting Party or Assisting Party under SMA. Virginia has five eligible towns: Chincoteague (less than 5,000 but exempted because of its special coastal flooding hazard), Christiansburg, Farmville, South Boston and Vinton. For all other towns, it is to their advantage to participate under the aegis of their county. In this way, the county would handle the administrative details, the town would have better standing and protection from both a liability and a reimbursement perspective, and the county would go to bat for the town should there be any SMA deployment-related problems. Town officials are encouraged to discuss with the county how liability coverage can best be provided when deploying personnel to another county or city. If town firefighters don’t already carry such protection, the county may be able
