Five cities. Two counties. This first week of 2026 The Pine Belt News looks back at some of the top events from 2025, including this story originally published September 11, 2025
The North Forrest Volunteer Fire Department’s annual haunted forest event was announced as being cancelled on Saturday through a social media post. In a letter to the community from the department released on social media, Brandon Odom, chief of the NFVFD said, “The local church that has allowed us to use their parking facilities, in exchange for donations to the church, for more than three decades has decided not to make it available this year…Without adequate parking for our visitors, we cannot safely or reasonably hold the Haunted Forest.”
“What we have today is 35 years in the making,” said Chip Brown, founding member of the NFVFD Haunted Forest. “So unfortunately, we can’t just up and move that to a different location. All avenues have been explored for this year, and it’s just not safe to utilize other parking areas due to having to then transport our patrons over here.”
The First Baptist Church of Glendale had sent a letter to the department saying, “This letter is to inform you that FBC Glendale will no longer participate in your annual Halloween Event during the month of October, including the use of our parking facilities. The church’s membership have evaluated this activity and has determined that it does not comply with our church’s new vision and direction. We are confident you understand our desire remain faithful to who we are and who we should be as a church.”
While the church cited their religious convictions as a major part of their decision, William Burk, the church’s interim pastor for the last six months, reported “taking the lead” on the decision based on what he was told by the church members. He stated that he was told the original agreement that was made 35 years ago was that the fire department would handle the safety, security and clean-up of the event.
Burk stated that members of the church reported to him that for the last seven to nine years, that security and clean-up was non-existent at the event, and that the clean-up fell onto the members of the church. He stated that he was also told that church members and deacons would come to check on the property during the event who claimed that inappropriate acts were occurring in the parking lot.
“Beginning 2 or 3 years ago, the church did come to us with concerns about the parking lot,” said Brown. “Those issues were addressed by our management here at the Haunted Forest and within the department. We have done everything the church has asked, policed the parking lot at night, and we police the parking lot after the event is over to make sure the trash is picked up and that the property is left just the way we found it.”
Burk reported being told by church members that leadership of the church contacted the insurance provider last year to inquire as to whether the members of the church would be covered in the event of injury while cleaning up after the event. Burk was told that the insurance would not cover those claims, and that the former leadership approached the department with those concerns.
“Last year, the church did come to us before the forest, and they voiced some concerns they had about some things that were going on and the cleanliness of the parking lot,” said Public Information Officer for North Forrest and Macedonia VFD, Austin Extine. “One of the things that we enacted to help with that was we started patrolling the parking lots. We would do patrols actively throughout the night. There were a lot of times we had to run people off. We didn’t allow people to just hang out in the parking lot because of that. We were trying to respect the church’s wishes.”
“Last year, throughout the entire season, we never heard any feedback or complaints from the church,” said Extine. “Leading up to this event, we were getting ready to have our usual meeting with them about a month out to make sure that we still had the same arrangement and to follow-up with them. Unfortunately, before we could do that this year, we received a letter in the mail on August 26 stating that we would no longer be allowed to use their facilities for the haunted forest.”
“We just made the decision that unfortunately, we just couldn’t keep on,” said Burk. “There is no animosity toward the department. We certainly didn’t mean to be negative or cause hardships to anybody, but [church members] were under negativity and hardships. We just felt like it was time for us to make a change. That’s where we are with all of this.”
The revenue generated by the NFVFD Haunted Forest fundraiser accounts for nearly 48% of the NFVFD’s annual operating budget and around 20% of the annual operating budget for Macedonia Volunteer Fire Department, bringing in approximately $100,000 or more each year to the departments and community, according to Extine.
“This money is not just for luxuries,” said Extine. “It’s what keeps the doors of the department open. It ensures that these guys stay in adequate, up-to-date gear, that protects them. It’s what ensures that the proper tools are on these trucks, so when they roll out, the community has the best protection that we can offer.”
Both Brown and Extine voiced being grateful to the church for allowing the department to use their parking facilities for the last 34 years, stating that there was no animosity toward the church or its members. “Just don’t give up on us,” said Brown. “Just because we’re gone this year doesn’t mean we won’t be back bigger and badder in the future.”
