Any Volunteers?
Economy puts squeeze on local fire companies

Volunteer companies like Red Hook, which have seen their ranks decline by more than half, are stepping up recruitment to avoid having to resort to hiring paid staff.

By Patricia Doxsey, Freeman Staff

On countless occasions over the past 11 years, Red Hook Fire Chief Michael Burnett has left his job, family dinners, and the warmth of his bed to rush to the aid of a neighbor experiencing a fire emergency.
     It is a scene that gets repeated millions of times each year by volunteer firefighters who give up time with their families and friends to help people they may not even know.
     But as fewer people step up to volunteer, firefighting organizations like the Red Hook Fire Company, Inc., with only 30 volunteer members, are finding it more difficult to answer calls that pour into emergency response centers.
     Consequently, a number of departments are being forced to hire paid firefighters to fill in the gaps, particularly during the day, when volunteers simply can't respond.
     In the city of Kingston Fire Department, which for the past 100 years has operated as combination volunteer-paid agency, the number of volunteers has gone from a high of more than 100 to 10.
     "In the early '80s... we had about 75 volunteers and five very active fire companies that would respond with upwards of seven, eight or 10 people each," said Kingston Fire Chief Richard Salzmann. "Now we're down to three (volunteer) firehouses, and frankly we're in a position now that, especially during the day, we have difficulty getting any volunteers.
     Although fire departments in Northern Dutchess still operate as all-volunteer organizations, more and more in Dutchess and Ulster counties are finding that, like Kingston, they must rely on paid firefighters for at least a portion of their coverage.
     Burnett said the Red Hook department hopes to avoid that situation - and the cost that accompanies it - by launching an aggressive recruitment campaign to bolster its dwindling ranks.
     "At one point, we had about 75 or 80 active members, but the way the economy's going, a lot of people had to leave," said Burnett.
     In 2007, the 30-member volunteer squad responded to more than 1,000 calls from residents within the company's 25-mile coverage area, he said.
     "The group of people that we have now, they're very dedicated, they put their lives aside for the fire department and the community, but it's a lot of strain on our families," said Burnett. "We scarifice our time away from our families for the department."
     Richard Wambach, president of River Valley Marketing, has been hired by the department to coordinate the recruitment effort, which will go public with a recruiting booth during the town's annual Apple Blossom Festival in May, and will for the next several months feature tours of the firehouse, public service announcements and other events designed to raise awareness of and interest in the volunteer organization.
     "We're trying to get the message out there that we need help," said Wambach. "We have a lot of local people that have been in the company for a number of years, and they are very committed, but very rarely the public understands the commitment that is made by these individuals."
     The two said they especially hope to reach new residents who may not realize that unlike the New York City Fire Department, the Red Hook department has no paid staff.
     Roosevelt Fire District Chief Bill Steenbergh said continuous recruitment is crucial to maintaining an adequate volunteer staff.
     Steenbergh said his department, which has about 110 volunteers, mans three fire stations within its 28-mile boundary and responded to more than 1,100 emergency calls in 2007.
     "Would I like to have more (volunteers)? Yes. But given the fact that every department is struggling for members, we're not feeling the pinch as much as some of the others are," he said.
     The primary reason, he said, is the emphasis the agency places on recruitment efforts.
     "We are continuously recruiting, we have a standing committee in the fire district that we call Recruitment and Retention. They have a line item and some money allocated to them under the budget," Steenbergh said.
     Steenbergh said the money the district budgets for recruitment and retention is well-spent, considering the starting salary for firefighters is about $38,000 plus benefits.
     "Having a payroll is an expensive proposition and not every community can afford that," he said. "The average person doesn't appreciate the tax savings having a volunteer fire department represents."
     Over the years, there have been some efforts at the state and local levels to encourage participation in volunteer fire departments.
     Dutchess County Emergency Response Coordinator John Murphy said that in 2003, Dutchess County Executive William Steinhaus launched an initiative he called ComeVol to help attract volunteers to emergency service. Through its budget, the county helps offset training costs to volunteer agencies, he said.
     New York state announced in 2007 that volunteer emergency responders can get a tax break of up to $200 on their state income tax bills.
     Ulster County, along with the town of Lloyd and the Northern Dutchess towns of Red Hook, Clinton, and Milan, and the village of Tivoli, allow volunteers to take advantage of legislation that reduces the assessed value of the volunteer emergency responder's property by 10 percent or up to $3,000, which translates into a slight decrease in their municipal property taxes.
     Additionally, firefighters in several municipalities throughout the region have been able to opt into length of service award program, which acts as a kind of retirement program for volunteer emergency responders.
     The Roosevelt department has thrown in inducements of its own, as well, offering, for instance, to pay half the cost of a gym membership to any volunteer who responds to eight calls a month.
     State Assemblyman Marc Molinaro, who, as a Dutchess County legislator sat on a legislative committee charged with trying to devise ways to attract and retain volunteer emergency responders, said the programs can entice some "marginal firefighters" to become more involved to qualify for the benefits.
     He said their are other proposals now being considered, including one that would give volunteers access to municipal health care plans. But he said more needs to be done before the concept of volunteer fire departments becomes a thing of the past.
     "The current situation both in volunteer fire and rescue is really an impending crisis and a tax crisis that I don't think many people truly recognize," said Molinaro, R-Red Hook.
     He believes the key lies in reducing the property tax burden in the state.
     "Fundamentally and primarily, you've got to deal with property tax," said Molinaro. "You can't expect people to work two or three jobs just to stay in their homes and then volunteer."
     Burnett agrees. "It really is the economy. Everybody knows the problems with our economy today. A lot of people have to get two jobs, and people are moving out of New York. It's just impossible to work here."

For any questions please contact Dick Franklin, Chairman of the RHFC Recruitment Committee at 845-758-0043 or email rfranklin@hvc.rr.com.

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