Fire department response times improve in Cleveland County Five years ago, a person out in rural Cleveland County would be lucky if their call of a serious fire or automobile accident was answered in under an hour. Today, that time is down to about eight minutes and closer to five minutes in some areas. The change is a result of a years-long effort by Cleveland County officials to better fund and staff each of the 12 volunteer fire departments around the county. In 2015, amid a national slide in volunteerism, Cleveland County had fewer than 400 volunteer fire fighters across its 12 departments. None of the departments had any staffing during the daytime.