|
|
Volunteer
Fire Departments… really?
By Bob Rhoades
A faithful CNO Reader’s article on Volunteer Fire Departments was very
good, not real accurate, but good.
I actually sat down and researched the departments he listed. Here is
what I found and the citation for each.
1. Pasadena, TX
http://www.ci.pasadena.tx.us/default.aspx?name=fire_history It is the
largest Volunteer Dept.
2. Alexandria, VA http://alexandriava.gov/Fire Key sentence on the
first page of their webpage: Today, the department employs more than
250 professional personnel, which include firefighters, paramedics,
fire prevention staff and administrative support. Alexandria also has a
volunteer organization, the Alexandria Volunteer Fire Department
(AVFD). The AVFD has served the citizens of our fine City for more than
two hundred years. AVFD members provide assistance in the areas of
firefighting, emergency
medical services, communications, canteen and administration.
3. Meridian, Idaho: http://meridiancity.org/fire/ Key sentence, second
paragraph: This relationship with IAFF Local 4627, our Elected
Officials, and the public has helped propel our department to higher
standards and continued success. Volunteers don’t belong to the IAFF. I
found nothing on their web page indicating there was any type of
Volunteer activity other than originally in 1908, the department was
started as a volunteer organization. The final paragraph on the history
page says this: The Department employees a total of 78 employees which
includes 14 part-time on-call personnel.
4. Dale City, VA: http://www.dcvfd.org/#!OUR STORY|csgz The last
paragraph on the home page: The DCVFD owns and operates four of Prince
William County's fire and rescue stations. DCVFD volunteers staff these
stations from 6pm to 6am Monday through Friday, throughout the weekend,
and on any holidays that career staff do not work. It is a career
department with volunteers at off peak times.
5. Rockville, MD: http://www.rvfd.org/about/history/ Organized with 51
men in 1921, the RVFD now has a diverse complement of over 270
volunteers supported by almost 100 Montgomery County career
firefighters. Our call volume has increased tremendously over the
years, from the 1920’s where the Department responded to about 200
incidents a year to the present, where we responded to 24,910 incidents
in 2010.
6. Bowie MD: http://bowiefire.org/about.html On the “About Page”:
Volunteers staff each of the three stations primarily in the evenings,
early mornings, all weekends, and holidays. Our stations are staffed
with several county fire fighters and supplemented with volunteers.
Currently, the county has assigned four fire fighters/EMTs to a 24-hour
shift at each of the three stations.
7. Kearney, Nebraska: http://www.kvfd.webs.com/ Ten
Firefighter/Operators, Fire Administrator, Administrative Assistant and
part-time Secretary make up our small full time staff. There are also
76 volunteers.
8. Deer Park, TX; http://www.deerparktx.gov/ It appears that this may
be an all-volunteer department.
9. Ft. Myers Florida:
http://www.fortmyersfire.com/AboutFMFD/History/tabid/59/Default.aspx On
September 13, 1920 the city appointed it’s first paid fire chief and
authorized him to hire six full time firefighters at the monthly wage
of $10 per month.
10. Pierre, South Dakota: http://pierrefiredept.org/ Listed as a
volunteer department with a paid chief.
Volunteer Departments, really?
Out of 10 departments that were listed 8 had a paid staff. Two of the
ten appeared to be all volunteer Departments. Looking at each
department’s web page under the History of the department told how it
really exists.
Old Daily Advocate accounts of two major fires in Greenville show one
taking out an entire block. That was the precursor to the department we
have now, founded in 1871. Piqua had no less than three stations, all
volunteer. One is now a residence on Park Ave, with the doors and hose
drying tower still visible.
Towns the size of Greenville in Pennsylvania usually have all
volunteers for staffing. Believe it or not there are still a couple of
volunteer departments in New York City. The key point with them is that
is the way they started. All have made concessions.
The point here is when I was a firefighter for the city of Greenville,
I was fortunate enough to go to Sinclair College to take fire science
courses. FS 101 is usually the first course that you take. It gives you
a general overview of the fire service. What I learned there is that
most departments are what they are out of necessity. During that period
of time in the 1970’s and 80’s, there were about three paid departments
in Montgomery County, now there are about three that aren’t.
So here’s the deal Faithful CNO Reader, I’ll always do my homework, you
start doing yours.
|
|
|
|
