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VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS FACING CRISIS |
| (03/09/2010) |
| By Bob Weaver Volunteer fire departments dutifully cover most of America. With the amount of training needed to become a firefighter and maintain the credential, fewer and fewer volunteers are able to find time to meet the requirements. The requirements, for the most part, are the same as a paid firefighter. Volunteer firefighters were required to have 60 hours of basic training, now it's doubled to 120 hours. That's just for starters. Calhoun's three volunteer fire departments are facing the dilemma, with added hours and more and more responsibility, including dealing with hazardous materials, technical rescues and basic first response medical skills. All are becoming mandates for volunteers. In Calhoun County, the fire departments are responders on most every situation, from downed power lines to rocks in the road. In recent years, firemen are expected to provide traffic control at accidents, sometimes for hours. Firemen, most of which have a job, sacrifice their family life to meet the need. Experts say volunteers save American communities over $37 Billion in fire protection. Many firefighters are in favor of incentives like tax breaks for training and even insurance or retirement benefits. The WV Legislature has been slow in granting volunteer firefighters breaks, particularly with state health and retirement programs already billions of dollars in the hole. Statistics indicate that departments are losing 5% of their volunteers each year. In Calhoun, few young people are interested, with the low numbers of responders static or dwindling. Fewer employers are willing to let their firemen leave the job to do community service, sometimes for hours.
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