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<br />will really enjoy and it is a good thing
<br />for your community."
<br />In South Carolina, Shane Ray is
<br />seeing a drop in volunteers. Ray is the
<br />superintendent of the South Carolina
<br />Fire Academy, where he is responsible
<br />for all of the state's fire training. Ray also
<br />is the international representative on the
<br />International Association of Fire Chief's
<br />Volunteer & Combination Officers Sec-
<br />tion; is the former chief of the Pleasant
<br />View (Tenn.) Volunteer Fire Depart-
<br />^teutand is the former director of pub-
<br />lic fire protection for the National Pire
<br />Sprinkler Association. South Carolina is
<br />running pilot programs for firefighting
<br />and EMS training for high school stu-
<br />dents at six vocational training facilities
<br />across the state.
<br />It is important, according to Ray to
<br />offer young recruits vocational training,
<br />because most need to see some personal
<br />benefit. Older recruits, in their 3os, 4os
<br />~~ {'nz
<br />,~i~~
<br />Total %of Total
<br />2009
<br />All Career: 2,457 8.1%
<br />Mostly Career: 1,752 5.8%
<br />Mostly Vglunteer: 5,099 16.9%
<br />All Volunteer: 20,857 69.1%
<br />Total: 30,165
<br />2030
<br />All Career 2,495 8.3%
<br />Mostly Career. 1,860 62%
<br />Mostly Volunteer. 5,290 17.5%
<br />All Volunteer: 20,480 68%
<br />Total 30,125
<br />Source: National Firo Protection Association
<br />and even 5os, typically come to volun-
<br />teer fire departments out of a deep-
<br />seated duty to serve their community.
<br />This is not something he ofren sees in
<br />the young recruits, he said.
<br />Time is in Short Supply
<br />Another oft-cited reason for the decline
<br />i^ volunteer ranks is that the prolonged
<br />economic downturn has forced many
<br />to work much longer hours to make
<br />ends meet.
<br />"1 had a chief [his morning tell me
<br />that some of his volunteers are working
<br />7o to yo hours a week," Itay said. "They
<br />have no available time to sense at all"
<br />Exacerbating this situation is the
<br />financial woes felt by many local and
<br />state governments. In what seems like a
<br />cruel joke, Barron said that while'Pexas
<br />is able to attract and retain volunteer
<br />firefighters, there is no money to out-
<br />fit them with proper protective equip-
<br />ment. Worse, Barron does not see an
<br />end to this problem, despite constant
<br />efforts to convince Texas lawmakers
<br />to provide adequate funding. He said
<br />the problem stems from both too little
<br />money and too low of a priority placed
<br />on volunteers.
<br />"We've heard that 86% of those
<br />volunteer firefighters pay money out
<br />of their personal accounts to keep the
<br />fire department running," said Barron,
<br />who also is chief of the Manchaca Pire
<br />Department, a combination depart-
<br />ment near Austin. "We've heard cases
<br />where they are putting fuel in the trucks
<br />(with their own money) because the fire
<br />department doesn't have a,ny money or
<br />they are spending it on repairs or PPE.
<br />"lt is like the perfect storm for a fire
<br />department. You have lower levels of
<br />funding, increased call volume and an
<br />unprecedented wildfire season. Last year
<br />was terrible (for wildfires) and the pre-
<br />dictions are that this year is going to be
<br />about the same in Texas."
<br />This Texas-sized problem will not
<br />be solved with a few pancake breakfasts
<br />and car washes. So Barrods association
<br />turned to the private sector, going so
<br />far as to hire a public relations firm to
<br />generate donations. And it is working.
<br />They've pulled in sizable donations, as
<br />much as $roo,ooo, from several asso-
<br />ciations, fmmdations and companies.
<br />To date, funding requests from Texas
<br />volunteer departments has amounted
<br />to about $r million; through donations
<br />they have been able to meet about half
<br />of that demand.
<br />"It has helped, but it hasn't been able
<br />to get everybody itn (protective) gear
<br />yet" Barron said.
<br />An interesting aside to the econom-
<br />icsissue can be found in an NVPC study
<br />conducted several years ago. Accord-
<br />ing to Stittleburg, boom times can have
<br />just as detrimental effect on a volunteer
<br />department as a downturn.
<br />"You have a steadily increasing
<br />demand for services without a cor-
<br />responding increase in volunteers," he
<br />said. "But] the sense of community
<br />that causes people to join hash t devel-
<br />oped yet"
<br />Of course, the real gorilla in the
<br />room is the amount of training that is
<br />required to be a volunteer firefighter.
<br />Not only does rigorous training prepare
<br />volunteer firefighters to perform well
<br />and safely, it also weeds out those who
<br />lack commitment andlor the requisite
<br />physical attributes. Ye[ NFPA noon and
<br />Firefighter 1 and II training require-
<br />ments can be particularly burdensome
<br />FIRECHIEF.COM MARCH 2012 SS
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