In 2001, a Genesee County Emergency Services Task Force created a final report on the future of the volunteer fire service.
The single answer from the report was recruiting.
In 2001, fire departments did not have enough manpower and the Task Force report was a result of a shortage of volunteers in the 90’s. There was an uptick in volunteers post 9.11, but that only lasted a few years.
Fast forward to 2018, after a few years into a recruiting campaign, lack of volunteers in the fire service is becoming an emergency situation. Many volunteer departments are using the mutual aid plan on a daily basis to man their calls for service. It is a plan that has been around for decades. It was designed to be used only during a large catastrophic event or fire to call in outside fire companies and equipment to assist during the incident. Today it is being used as part of daily operations to assist with manpower.
“Now it has become routine to have 2-3 departments respond to get that single response down,” says Tim Yaeger. Genesee County Emergency Management Coordinator.
Since 2010, RecruitNY has local fire departments across the state opening their doors to the public each April as they hold open house at their fire halls. Volunteer departments display equipment, apparatus and put on demonstrations with the hopes they might attract new members.
“So far recruiting hasn’t worked out well enough,” says Bill Schutt, Deputy Coordinator at Genesee County Emergency Management.
RecruitNY is administered by the Firemen’s Association of the State of NY, the NYS Association of Fire Chiefs, the Association of Fire Districts of NYS, the Volunteer Fire Police Association of the State of NY, and County Fire Coordinators Association of the State of NY.
Last month, the Byron Fire Department participated in RecruitNY and held an open house and less than a dozen people showed up.
The Byron Fire Department works with the South Byron Fire Department covering a population of about 2,500 people. The Department has 45 active firefighters and their EMS covers the whole district. Last year, they responded to 245 calls for service.
Byron Fire Chief Bob Mruczek knows how difficult it is for people to volunteer their time these days.
Mruczek expressed his concerns over the decline in volunteers coming into the department.
Because of family obligations, a lot of training, and the fact that most employers do not let you leave work to respond to a fire call anymore, the volunteer departments are lacking the manpower needed to respond to a large emergency situation during the daytime hours. Weekends are also tough to get volunteers to respond as they have family things to do.
He believes in the future it may come to having a County Fire Department.
“You have different locations and different firefighters in each station, it may come to paid drivers, its hard to tell, its a bad trend all over the country right now, ” says Mruczek.
The recruiting effort has created a great marketing campaign over the last 8 years.
“We did get some results, but no where near the level that we need to sustain the levels that I think every Fire Chief in this county feels is adequate,” says Yaeger.
“Its time to have an honest conversation with ourselves.We need to look at where we are today and are we truly providing the best level of service to the taxpayer.”
When you call 9-1-1 you expect the same level of service from police, EMT’s and the fire service.
Volunteers are still responding to calls despite the shortage of manpower, especially during the hours of 7:00a.m.and 5:00p.m., as most volunteers are at work and cannot always respond quickly.
“We are the most dedicated, hard working individuals in the fire service. We are based on that pride and sometimes we let our pride get in our way because we don’t want to say that we are having some issues or in many cases we are failing to provide the service that we should be providing.”
“There are a small number of calls not being answered and the delay in responses has become not acceptable. As a first responder we have an obligation to provide these services in a timely manner.”
Retention is also an important aspect in keeping current members involved and on board
With more hours now spent on training, fundraising, medical calls, work and family obligations, the volunteer firefighter is stretched thin with their time.
Mruczek understands the difficulties volunteers face.
In the 80’s, he volunteered with the Town of Batavia Fire Department and left the department to spend more time with his kids at their sporting events.
Five years ago Mruczek started volunteering again with the Byron Fire Department, he started as a Safety Officer.
He has been the Department’s Chief for about a year and a half.
“It’s a lot of work, a lot involved, a lot of responsibility, but it is still worth it.”
“In today’s world, what is in it for volunteer firefighters,” says Yaeger.
“With the amount of training that they are required to have, the amount of expectations they have to be an active member of that organization, it continues to increase, but there is no giving back. How do you balance your time between job, family and volunteering. Something has to give, and that is what we have to look at.”
Yaeger says consultants that they have spoken with look at the volunteer side to be a part time job.
“You have a full time career in whatever area you choose, but the volunteer fire service becomes a part time job for you. That means there is part time reimbursement and some benefits that we have to be able to offer these folks to be competitive in the marketplace and right now we are not doing that.”
Every volunteer organization tends to struggle these days, whether it be civic organizations, scouts or the fire service.
One thing that is more difficult for the volunteer fire service is that it is not scheduled.
“With no notice you are being asked to volunteer,” says Bill Schutt, Deputy Coordinator at Genesee County Emergency Management.
Schutt says depending on the time of day you don’t know who you are going to get to respond.
“If you make it a part time job you improve the responsibility of an individual when you pay them, then you can start scheduling too. Now you can fit that into your schedule,” says Schutt.
FASNY, the Fireman’s Association of the State of NY and the NYS Association of Fire Chiefs believe there needs to be a menu of options, not just one option.
“Because its based on the demographics, territory and population along with revenue, some departments can afford combination departments,” says Yaeger.
“Many places cannot afford that also, what can you afford reasonably to be able to fill that gap, part time, paid per call, when training, drilling or when you show up, paid on call (on standby), which you would automatically have to respond because they are on the clock. We have so many hurdles in front of us to look at and this does not allow us to look at options so we need the politicians and the taxpayer to be in front of this. They need to be looking at this very seriously, this is something that should not be taken lightly at all.”
Yaeger says a downstate committee has been looking into some of the issues, but he says they look into it, and no action is being taken.
In Genesee County each volunteer fire department is autonomous, each municipality is autonomous and a solution has to be found for 17 fire departments and 17 municipalities.
“We are not going to solve this as individuals, so how do we engage and implement and take action on what was identified as possible solutions, ” says Schutt.
Yaeger and Schutt say there are quite a few stumbling blocks in New York State that are preventing the process from moving forward.
In New York State you cannot provide paid on call or pay per call.
“We can’t reimburse volunteer firefighters and still allow them to keep their volunteer status that allows them death benefits and worker’s comp,” says Yaeger.
“The Department of Labor has to be involved when your start paying people to do the job. It changes the game.”
Training standards will also change when you become a career firefighter/paid. You would have to adhere to those standards for only working a couple of nights per week for a part time job.
Yaeger and Schutt, who both have been involved in emergency services for 30 years, say they are not sure where to go and where to start to get the ball rolling on change.
“That is our frustration, because we have identified an insufficiency. Firefighters solve problems, we have emergencies, we go there, we solve problems, take care of the incident and we move on. With this we are at a dead end. We are not sure where to go and where we can find the answers and support to start having a serious conversation about solving this problem,” says Yaeger.
There is currently not a point person to go to in state government and there is no task force to sit down and look at the scope of the problems in each county.
“Volunteer firefighting is such a local grassroots personal part of rural America, the State is leery about stepping on toes and home rule,” says Schutt.
“We don’t have the financial resources or the high call volume to justify getting a paid service.”
Yaeger believes volunteers, local and state governments and the fire associations must all come together to find a solution now.
“We’re very sensitive about these municipalities and the work that they put in and not to miss anyone. The municipalities need to be included in solving this problem. We just don’t know if going to politicians is the right avenue or if we are better off going through the fire associations,” says Yaeger.
The Genesee County Emergency Management Office is the volunteer fire service’s advocate and support them in whatever needs they might have, whether that be fire investigation, training or management and leadership issues.
On May 15th, Yaeger and the Niagara County Coordinator, Jonathon Schultz and Wyoming County Coordinator Bill Streicher, traveled to Albany to attend the Fire Service Government Affairs Day. They were able to have conversations with several Assembly members regarding the volunteer firefighter shortages. They hope to follow up with the Assembly members and Senators and then schedule a WNY Fire Coordinators meeting some time over the summer.
Yaeger says the intent is to outline the numerous concerns of fire departments and that those concerns are heard and documented.
“At this point we are simply putting the pieces together in order to develop a strategic plan to enact legislation that allows the Fire Departments, Fire Districts, Villages and towns to use to address the firefighter shortages,” says Yaeger.
The NYS Fire Coordinator Association Board will be discussing the topic at their conference in June.