The Moyock Fire Department is struggling to meet call volume and has asked Currituck County to take over its operation.

County officials are considering several options, including hiring a full-time firefighter crew in Moyock at a cost of about $1 million annually, said Sandra Hill, director of the Currituck County Finance Department.

If that happened, it would be the first of Currituck's fire departments to go full-time and be run by the county. Emergency medical services switched from volunteer to full-time countywide in 2001, but volunteer firefighters have continued to respond as they have for some 50 years in Currituck County.

"It's not something the county is trying to rush into," County Manager Dan Scanlon said.

The Board of Commissioners will decide how to respond to Moyock's request during its upcoming budget meetings, Scanlon said. Among the issues is how fire volunteers in other communities will react.

"I want to be sure we do not decrease volunteerism in Currituck County," said Michael Carter, chief of Currituck County Fire and EMS.