NY Times Article: The Disappearing Volunteer Firefighter

[Viper 139]

The Disappearing Volunteer Firefighter

By ANDREW BROWN and IAN URBINA

The New York Times AUG. 16, 2014

IN most places in America, when a fire breaks out, a volunteer shows up to put it out.

But the ranks of volunteers are dwindling. What was once an iconic part of American life is losing its allure, in part because the work — some would say the calling — is a lot less practical than it used to be.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Edited August 17, 2014 by TheViper

[FireMedic049 597]

Although the decline in volunteers is a real problem and needs addressed, I think the article was poorly researched and written. It was particularly weak in addressing the aspects of fundraising and its relation to the ability of VFDs to keep the doors open and responding to calls with qualified personnel.

One part of the article was a gross misrepresentation of the situation it alluded to. The article makes mention of a recent ruling by Pennsylvania labor officials granting volunteers the right to organize and that this would increase to number of unionized firefighters in the state. The reality of the situation is that the firefighters specifically affected by this ruling were not actually volunteer firefighters, but rather part-time employees of the municipality.

The information linked in the article is the ruling from the PLRB which describes the situation in detail. The quick version is that the fire department is operated and funded by the municipality. The department has full-time and part-time personnel. The municipality is directly involved in the process for hiring new members for the department. The firefighters are scheduled for shifts at the fire station. They are paid an hourly wage for these shifts by the municipality (~$10-15 range) including the deduction of all applicable payroll taxes. The municipality claimed that the firefighters were volunteers and not employees of the municipality, but the ruling states that the firefighters are clearly not volunteers, but rather employees of the municipality.

As such, the non-managerial firefighters of the department were eligible to organize under PA's municipal police and firefighter collective bargaining law (Act 111). The labor union involved in this situation, the IAFF via the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association (PPFFA), the state association for IAFF Locals in PA does not organize volunteer firefighters.

[SageVigiles 1,194]

I agree, the article definitely has some flaws, and it also fails to acknowledge that so many fire departments are failing because they can't get with the times. If your idea of a recruitment plan consists of a signboard in front of the firehouse, you might want to consider getting some fresh blood into your recruitment committee.

There ARE some volunteer departments out there who are growing AND managing to consistently put well-trained Firefighters and EMTs on the street. Unfortunately they seem to be the minority.

Edited August 17, 2014 by SageVigiles

[dwcfireman 656]

"There are still more than twice as many volunteers as career firefighters. But the number of volunteers has dropped by around 11 percent since the mid-1980s, while the number of career firefighters has grown more than 50 percent, according to the National Fire Protection Association. The allure has diminished because fund-raising now takes up roughly half the time most volunteers spend on duty. It’s also harder to fit in volunteer work. The rise in two-income households often means that there is no stay-at-home parent to run things so the other can dash off for an an emergency. Urbanization and the aging of the rural population are taking their toll as fewer young people are available to replace firefighters who retire."

This is the paragraph that sums up most of the truth behind the decline of volunteer firefighters in America (in my own humble opinion, that is). So much has changed in the last 30 years in our society, in our faimly lives and values, and what we select as our hobbies. The American psyche has always been to work hard and earn that cold hard cash, and it has really taken shape into what we see today, not just in society in general, but even with the volunteers that still make the sacrafice to make the first due rig.

The first portion of this paragraph states that the number of volunteer firefighters has dropped 11% since the mid-1980's. It's a sound number, though I can't seem to verify this because I cannot find it with in the source given (NFPA). Regardless, it is true that the number of volunteers has dropped quite significantly over the years. I remember as a kid, growing up in the late 80's, that there was always, and I mean always, a dozen guys hanging around the fire house every day. When I finally became the almighty probie at age 18, I noticed not as many were around, and there was always a struggle to get the first due out the door with an appropriate crew. I remember one of my first residential alarms where I was still a probie riding officer with just the driver, and my father was the sole man on the second due engine. There's not much you can do with three firefighters. Thankfully my hometown fire department turned around and the firs due was always full, even during the day time. But as Sage mentioned,

There ARE some volunteer departments out there who are growing AND managing to consistently put well-trained Firefighters and EMTs on the street. Unfortunately they seem to be the minority.

this was an exception to the general trend. Anyway, time always has a way of playing its little game, and the downslope comes way too quickly. After I moved away 6 1/2 years ago the downward spiral began again. It seems that we, as the volunteer fire service, get little bursts of hope, and then we fall right back into the same original problems that we thought we erased, and now we're back to square one.

fund-raising now takes up roughly half the time most volunteers spend on duty.

I'll dispute this a little, as I've never noticed this at the district/department level here in Westchester, or the Tri-State area in general. Yes, many fire companies are out there every weekend doing boot drops, or car shows, or selling Christmas trees, but none of these fundraising efforts go to the operational needs of the department. It's company level funding. On the other hand, I do know of departments upstate and across the nation that solely operate on fundraiser money. For example, a good friend of mine's father is the chief of a small rural district in Iowa (forgive me, I can't remember the name of the town). They have no fire tax. The town pays nothing to the fire department, and neither does the village. They operate with a $110,000 budget every year, which comes only from fundraising. This goes for new apparatus, too. Their new $600,000 engine/tanker was purchased with money earned from the blood, sweat and tears of the volunteers. Do you know how long it takes to raise $600,000 while also raising money for your operational funds? My friend's father told me it took about 8 years. Now, you have to remember, these volunteers went out and worked their butts off, in their free time, to raise the money for a place that barely afford to give them a free t-shirt. They make it work, but it takes a lot of work to make it happen.

The rise in two-income households often means that there is no stay-at-home parent

This is all too true. It's almost impossible to have a single-income household while you're trying to support a family. Taxes keep going up, inflation is exponentially growing, and there is no such thing as a break anymore. Myself, living in my tiny one bedroom closet, I spend $1000/month in rent alone, and then there's student loans, car payments, insurance, and so many other bills to attend to. And that's just for myself. Imagine if I was trying to support a family on my income alone. It's impossible these days. And never mind the two-income household thing, because some parents, and sometimes both, have to work second jobs to help pay the bills! Do you really think that you can retain a volunteer that works two jobs AND has a family, or let alone any social life? It takes true dedication to work, tend to the family, have a social life, be a good neighbor, and volunteer at the same time. And people wonder why the divorce rate amongst emergency service workers is so damn high! We drive ourselves crazy enough that our spouses/significant other go crazy and snap! I can attest that after working a double shift that I don't want to go to that ridiculous EMS call at 0130 for the drunk passed out. And I can attest that our dedication to the service has ended plenty of marriages (including my own parents). Being a volunteer has become a circus act of juggling a few too many items in our lives, and it's killing us.

Urbanization and the aging of the rural population are taking their toll as fewer young people are available to replace firefighters who retire.

Well, ain't this the scary truth. Let's look at the first word of that sentence. Urbanization. It's quite obvious that no where on this planet is becoming more rural. As our populations increase, the cities spill into the suburbs, and the suburbs spill into the rural communities. Everything is becoming more urbanized, which leads to more accidents, more fires, and more people needing emergency help. Unfortunately, there comes a point where a small group of volunteers can no longer handle the onslaught of calls, so municipalities hire paid firefighters and EMT's. Slowly you see a small town volunteer department evolve into a combination department, and eventually into a fully staffed carreer department. It takes time, but it happens. Us volunteers hit the tipping point, and the municipalty takes over. And the most unfortunate catalyst in this issue is that our youth, the fresh college grads and young adults, move closer to the cities, and feed into the urbanization of America. So now our rural departments, even those in the suburbs, are left with an aging population that is tired, moving slower, and growing less capable of doing the job they once did so meritoriously. I'll admit I've seen a crew of firefighters all 50+ in age do a heck of a job at a house fire. But how will they perform in their 60's? And who is replacing them? Oh, yeah, no one. All of the kids moved to the city, and they want to be paid to do the job. Understandably, who wouldn't want to be paid to fight fires all day? It's an exciting job. But, as more and more of our youth move to become paid firefighters in the cities, we struggle to find replacements for our aging volunteers. The sad truth is that people don't last forever, and unfortunately our tradition won't either if this trend continues down this path.

The recent trend has been the downward spiral of fewer volunteers, lesser funding, and more work for the few of us that still have the spark to keep our departments alive. It's tough. Life gets in the way, and we make sacrafices every day to prioritize what's truly important. We may pass on that EMS call, but we'll say good bye to the family when that structure fire gets toned out. Our wives will continue to yell at us, and the people we help will still continue to be grateful for us. It's a fine balancing act that comes with a little bit of dedication, a little motivation, and a whole lot of perseverence. The volunteer fire service, even with all of it's short comings, has always been a vital vertabrae in American society since the begining, and we need to preserve this virtue. Will the volunteer firefighter disappear for good? Yeah, in a few hundred years, long after we're gone. But, for now at least, let's keep getting out there a doing the job we love. Recruit retain, train and retrain, and be the best damn firefighters we can be. It's a fine balancing act that comes with a little bit of dedication, a little motivation, and a whole lot of perseverence.

[16fire5 693]

I believe the urbanization referred to in the article is not that the suburbs and rural areas are becoming more populated. The latest census has showed that more people are choosing to live in urban areas. A higher percentage of the population now lives in cites and rural areas are slowly dying. This becomes a real challenge for volunteer departments since most of these rural places will never be able to support career staff. The studies also show that the average age of volunteers is getting older. While the article says most places are protected by volunteer departments that is very misleading. That may be true if we look at land area and the sheer number of volunteer departments there are. The fact is around 70% of the population is protected by career firefighters who make up 30% of the American fire service. This is not a paid vs. volly issue it's facts. If you have 30% of the firefighters doing 70% of the workload they are going to be more proficient and their workload is probably higher per capita anyway due to urban challenges.