28 Backdraft Magazine | A Volunteer Fire Service Publication | Volume 5 | Issue 1 | www.thebackdraftmagazine.com
Volunteerism might be up during a down economy,
but one group that heavily relies on donated time is
suffering: fire departments.
Increased training requirements, more duties,
squeezed family lives and less-flexible employers
have all contributed to a decrease in the number of
people willing to drop everything and pick up a hose,
local fire chiefs say.
Recruitment is a problem for some departments, but
a more common complaint is that it's hard to keep
people once they've joined.
"We've lost an average of nine firefighters a year for
the past few years," Eagan Fire Chief Mike Scott
said.
Other departments in the metro report similar
problems.
Fire chiefs say some of the losses are due to
retirements, but the economy is also taking its toll.
Firefighters leave because they have to work longer
hours at their regular jobs as employers downsize;
others have lost their jobs and are moving out of
the cities where they serve.And some who find
themselves unemployed are retiring from firefighting
and collecting their firefighter pensions to survive,
said Dave Ganfield, secretary of the Minnesota State
Volunteer Firefighter Association. The metro area fits
into a national trend, said Kimberly Quiros, director
of communications for the National Volunteer Fire
Council.
"In the past 20 years, the number of volunteer
firefighters has declined around 8 percent," Quiros
said.
Volunteers make up 72 percent of the nation's
firefighting forces, she said.
Quiros also blamed the decrease on increased
commute times -- a firefighter has to be able to show
up at a fire scene within a few minutes -- and the
growing demand on people's time. More households
have both parents working full-time, she notes. And
what little free time parents have is spent with their
children.
'It's a big issue'
Centennial Fire Chief Jerry Streich's department is
feeling the squeeze. He's short 11 of the 60 firefighters
he'd prefer to have.
"I've lost close to 20 percent of my staff in the past
year," Streich said. "It's a big issue....Though people
are committed to the fire department, they're more
committed to their families and their jobs, and when
they have to leave, they leave."
Most metro "volunteer" departments are actually paid
on-call. Firefighters are paid either hourly during a
call response or on a per-call basis. Hourly rates are
usually around $13 an hour. Per-call rates range from
a few dollars to $20.
"People who are in this, they don't do it for the
money," Streich said.
By Jessica Fleming, The St. Paul Pioneer Press
Decline in Volunteering Hurts Fire
Departments Around the Country