HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED that there aren’t any volunteer police departments, volunteer garbage men, or volunteer road or water department employees? Now, before you quit reading, hear us out. We’re not bashing volunteers; just the opposite: We have the utmost respect and admiration for those individuals who give so selflessly of their time and abilities. In some instances, they give so much of themselves that it ends up hurting or even destroying their families. Last, but certainly not least, many of our brothers and sisters have lost their lives in the course of their duties as volunteer firefighters.
It takes a very special person to volunteer his time. This is true whether you volunteer your time at a hospital, in a local youth athletic association, at your church, in a charity organization, or for your local volunteer fire department. In today’s world, it seems there is nothing more precious or valuable than someone’s time. Volunteers aren’t just giving of their time. They are choosing to spend their “free time” volunteering rather than doing something with their family, pursuing a hobby, or making money at their primary job or even a part-time job.
THREE CATEGORIES OF DEPARTMENTS
The fire service in the United States has evolved into three distinct categories, in terms of the type of members: career, combination, and volunteer. Two major characteristics distinguish these organizations from one another: staffing and funding.
The career and combination departments are staffed by paid firefighters. These types of departments are almost totally funded by ad valorem taxes levied against property owners within a specific area. A small amount also may come from citizen donations. The third type, the volunteer department, is one in which all members volunteer their time to provide fire protection to a specific jurisdiction. The funding for volunteer organizations can come from many different sources. In some cases, ad valorem taxes are used; in others, emergency service districts or fire protection districts are formed and are used to generate revenue to purchase needed apparatus, equipment, supplies, and training. However, in some of these volunteer organizations, a portion, if not all, of the funds comes from such activities as bingo, chili cookoffs, barbecues, Christmas tree sales, raffles, car washes, bake sales, carnivals, and similar activities.
As instructors at a community college and at the Texas Municipal Fire Training School, we have had the opportunity to observe and work with members from many different fire departments. Recently, it has come to our attention that many volunteer departments and even some combination and career departments are trying to deliver service that far exceeds what their community is paying for. While all types of departments may be following this trend, the most extreme examples of this usually are seen at the volunteer level. Although this is very admirable, in some instances it has led to disastrous outcomes.
If you read the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) line-of-duty death reports, you are all too aware of how many firefighters are injured or killed in the course of their duties.
Have you ever wondered if those injured firefighters were “taken care of” by their departments? Have you ever thought that maybe a thermal imaging camera could have made the difference in how an incident played out? Have you stopped to think that maybe the apparatus wouldn’t have gone out of control or rolled over if it had been properly maintained? Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe the individuals in command may not have received adequate training to prepare them to make the decisions necessary to bring the incident to a different conclusion?
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
“Give them what they are paying for” is a phrase often used when firefighters are asked to “come up with” 50 to 100 percent of the money to purchase a new engine. It is something we say when firefighters tell us they are having a fund-raiser to purchase personal protective equipment or SCBAs or to build a new fire station. It’s what we tell them when they explain that they have to use their nights, weekends, and vacation time to attend training classes. On top of the previously mentioned expenses, they often have to pay their own way to attend these outside classes. It is something we teach when a department with only a small number of members tries to deliver the same level of service as a department with hundreds of firefighters. It is how we help firefighters understand that a life insurance policy to provide some level of security for their families if the firefighter is killed in the line of duty is not too much to ask for.
In most cases, the cost of personnel accounts for up to 95 percent of a department’s annual budget. This means that a department with an annual budget of $1 million will spend between $930,000 and $950,000 on personnel costs alone. This includes salary, health insurance, retirement, paid vacation and holiday time, and certification pay or assignment pay. This leaves only $50,000 to $70,000 to cover equipment, apparatus, and training.
The Lucas (TX) Fire Department is located in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex and serves an area of approximately 25 square miles with a population of 5,000. This department is a typical example of a small but rapidly growing volunteer fire department. In an annual report to city leaders, the former volunteer chief of the Lucas Fire Department defined the challenges facing volunteers, noting that there were members who made more than 100 calls in each of the past several years and that most of these calls averaged between one and two hours in duration. When you factor in the other demands of the department on a person’s time, you can begin to understand the significant time contribution made by the volunteers. Lucas experienced a tenfold increase in call volume during the past 35 years; the population volume only doubled, and the service area decreased to one-half of what it was during the same time span.
As a result of the volunteer chief’s report, the Lucas city leaders decided to make the next chief’s job a part-time paid position.
During the past 15 years, the emphasis on training has been one of the biggest change factors to confront the fire service and its volunteers. Training is now a key priority and is monitored by numerous outside agencies, including insurance organizations, accreditation groups, and local/state/federal regulatory agencies. Failure to meet training requirements carries the sting of law, increased insurance costs, or legal liability in the event of property or personal injury. Also, the fire service has embraced a very strong moral obligation in a very dangerous field to provide our personnel with a high level of competence. We all are upgrading our skills to respond to the growing challenges of dealing with hazardous materials, confined space rescue, and weapons of mass destruction. These are disciplines fire departments are expected to understand and deal with should the need arise. A strong training program is required to attain these skill levels.
PREPLANNING ALSO TAKES TIME
Considerably more time is spent on the calls themselves as well as on training to prepare for these calls than was the case 20 years ago. Keep in mind that departments also are participating in preplanning, inspections, and fire safety education. These activities help enhance public safety, firefighter safety, prevention of losses to business establishments, and lower insurance costs for the municipality overall. Just like responding to emergencies, these activities also take significant time commitments from firefighters to complete them in a thorough and professional manner.
So there is plenty of work to go around. Everything from responding to emergencies, conducting and participating in training activities, facility and apparatus maintenance, conducting the day-to-day business of the organization, and participating in a myriad of fire prevention activities requires untold amounts of time. Time, which we have noted, is free.
In many jurisdictions, governing bodies and city administrators rely on the “can do” and “just get it done” attitude of firefighters. They realize that firefighters are results driven and never want to let anyone down. These positive attributes easily can be manipulated and used against unsuspecting and well-intentioned firefighters. The dedication of firefighters to the citizens they serve is one of the last true examples of neighbors helping neighbors. Unfortunately, the intentions of politicians aren’t always as noble. When it comes time to adopt a budget or hold a bond election, the needs of the local fire department are often the first items to be postponed or cut altogether. In many cases, the very people we serve are the ones who won’t support a bond election or tax increase to adequately equip or train us to do our job.
The next time your city council, county commissioners, or other local officials ask you to help raise money, tell them that you already are doing more than your part. You already are volunteering your time and your skills and risking your life. By doing that, you are saving the community the lion’s share (up to 95 percent) of the expenses involved in having a functioning fire department. Remind them that “volunteer fire department” is not a synonym for “charity.”
Finally, look these city fathers straight in the eye and ask them for their five percent. Whoever governs your community or town should provide you with adequate bunker gear, SCBAs, annual fit testing of face pieces, hydrostatically tested air bottles, a preventative maintenance program for your apparatus, radios for every firefighter, quality training, and other necessities. If for some reason they still say no, then we don’t risk our people! We don’t go inside! We don’t do more than we can do with the training and equipment they provided. At that point, you should feel free to “give them what they are paying for.”
LES STEPHENS, a 16-year veteran of the fire service, is a battalion chief with the Garland (TX) Fire Department. He previously was a volunteer with the River Oaks (TX) Fire Department. He is a certified master firefighter and an instructor with the Texas Commission on Fire Protection. He has served as his department’s training instructor and is an instructor at Collin County Community College in McKinney, Texas; FDIC; and the Texas A&M University Municipal Fire School. He has an associate’s degree in fire protection from Tarrant County Community College.
STUART GRANT, a 27-year veteran of the fire service, is a battalion chief with Dallas (TX) Fire Rescue. He is certified as a master firefighter with the Texas Commission on Fire Protection. He has served in many capacities within the department, including academy commander, hazmat officer, paramedic, and rope rescue member. He has been a H.O.T. instructor and speaker at FDIC and an instructor at Collin County Community College in McKinney, TX, and at the Texas A&M University Municipal Fire School.
