The number of volunteer firefighters in New York state has dropped by a third since the early 2000s, leading to what some say is a crisis.
Legislation proposed in the state Assembly aims to help with recruitment by allowing districts to pay small stipends to the volunteers.
“It's tough in today's society, because mom and dad are working two, three jobs apiece, you know, trying to maintain bills and ... a place to live for their family,” said Chris Racine, chief of the Clinton Heights Fire Department in Rensselaer County. “So it's tough to turn around and say, ‘Hey, join the volunteer fire department.’”
Racine said he has 36 people on his roster, but only about 26 are active.
“There's days when I feel we have enough. There's days when we feel we don't have enough,” he said.
Other departments are having worse issues, as the number of volunteers has fallen from 120,000 to about 80,000 over the past two decades, according to the Association of Fire Districts of New York State.
Supporters hope it will help grow the number of volunteers. Those numbers have declined from 120 thousand in the early 2000s to about 80 thousand today, according to the Association of Fire Districts of the State of New York.
“Response times are increasing all across the state,” said Dave Denniston, a fire chief in Courtland County and first vice president of the association. “Volunteer agencies, through no fault of their own, have closed their doors because they could no longer sustain operations.”
Other firefighter groups said the stipend idea is not the best solution.
The Firefighters Association of the State of New York, which represents the rank and file of volunteer firefighters, called the stipend proposal “one tool in the toolbox” and suggests other ideas like enhanced tax credits, equal workforce injury protection and extending student loan forgiveness and tuition assistance to volunteer fire and EMS workers.
Meanwhile, the New York State Professional Firefighters Association, which represents full-time, paid firefighters, said the best solution is encouraging more departments to transition to being staffed by paid staff and trained volunteers.
“To come up with a long term, solid solution … that can only be done through collaboration and discussion with all interested parties and stakeholders,” said Sam Fresina, president of the New York State Professional Firefighters Association. “The severe decline in volunteers … it's a real problem, and it's a problem that that we all share. We have several departments across the state that work hand in hand with volunteers.”
There are some benefits for volunteer firefighters. Volunteers can now receive stipends for completing certain training courses and are eligible for workers’ compensation. They can also receive pension-like benefits through the Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP).
The bill on stipends for volunteer firefighters and another allowing districts to add and compensate on-call firefighters are currently in the Assembly’s local governments committee. In the on-call bill, pay would be capped at $50 per call, or $5,0000 per year.
