Fewer volunteers a challenge for area fire departments
When Rob Schiffbauer started as a volunteer firefighter at Carmichaels and Cumberland Township Volunteer Fire Company two decades ago, there was a waiting list to join the ranks.
鈥淵ou basically had to wait for someone else to resign,鈥� Schiffbauer said.
At the time, the fire company accepted only 60 members, and it used to be full. Now, it has 43, said Schiffbauer, who acts as the department鈥檚 chief.
The Greene County department is one of several in the area that has seen a steady reduction in volunteers. Departments also have fewer who are on the roster responding to some of the calls.
Schiffbauer has seen that, as have Morris Township Volunteer Fire Company Chief Dave Dietrich and LC Otto, chief of the Adah Volunteer Fire Department in German Township, Fayette County.
Dietrich said the time of day has a big effect on how many of the Washington County company鈥檚 18 volunteers respond to calls.
鈥淵ou could get a call at 9 a.m. and get four or five guys. Get a call two hours later, you get 10 guys,鈥� Dietrich said.
There are 40 people on Adah VFD鈥檚 roster, but those aren鈥檛 all necessarily available for calls, Otto said.
鈥淎 lot out of those 40 aren鈥檛 active positions. They are support roles with fundraising,鈥� Otto said.
If a call comes in during the afternoon or evening, Otto estimates they can expect at least a dozen members to respond to the call.
鈥淒uring the day, that number drastically decreases,鈥� Otto said.
There are four fire departments that serve German Township. Though they are separate entities, all four will respond to incidents within the township.
According to Otto, it may make some situations seem worse than they are due to the number of fire trucks arriving at the scenes.
鈥淪ome calls you think are horrible. In actuality, that鈥檚 only because there are only six firefighters there,鈥� Otto said. 鈥淲hat would have been a one department response is now a four department response. It鈥檚 just we鈥檙e offsetting the lack of manpower with more fire departments.鈥�
Perry Township Volunteer Fire Chief A.J. Boni noted that the age of volunteers currently skews older.
鈥淭he daylight hours are tough for everybody 鈥� Sometimes you鈥檒l get an engine that has five or six, other times they have two or three. And they鈥檙e not getting any younger,鈥� Boni said.
Schiffbauer and other fire chiefs agreed that it is a tough sell to recruit members who are already balancing full-time jobs and their families. Schiffbauer added there is about 200 hours of training volunteers have to go through just to learn the basics.
鈥淣ot only are you asking guys to join and do all the training, you鈥檙e not really receiving a lot of funds from your municipalities,鈥� Schiffbauer said.
According to Otto, the amount of time that is spent fundraising can be off-putting to potential volunteers.
鈥淎 lot of people don鈥檛 volunteer because they don鈥檛 want to constantly be fundraising,鈥� Otto said.
All the fire chiefs agreed that ultimately, agencies that rely solely on volunteers are going to need some support from local and state governments.
鈥淭he government, the state and the townships, are going to really have to sit down and look at this, and come up with a plan,鈥� Dietrich said. 鈥淚t has been a big problem for a long time, and it鈥檚 definitely getting worse.鈥�
Schiffbauer said that there should be some sort of incentive for volunteers who respond to calls.
Otto agreed, suggesting a pay-per-call system for volunteers.
鈥淩ight now, we鈥檙e 100% cost free for municipalities. We need to figure out a funding stream,鈥� Otto said.
Though it can be a tough sell, Otto hopes people will consider pitching in to help their local fire department.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the greatest decisions I鈥檝e ever made as a young man,鈥� Otto said. 鈥淚f anyone is ever considering joining the fire department, stop out and see what it鈥檚 all about.鈥�