Declining returns

Local volunteer fire departments reflect national trend

By BURTON SPEAKMAN

GLASGOW — Volunteer fire departments locally are part of a national trend with a declining and aging number of firefighters.

Nearly every local fire department has fewer volunteer firefighters than they would like to have, said Shannon White, chief of the Haywood Volunteer Fire Department and secretary of the Barren County Fire Chief’s Association.

“Some district’s are doing a little better because they’ve got a few more young people living there,” White said.

Haywood like most departments locally relies on a group of volunteer firefighters who have been working for 10, 15, 20 or more years with the department, he said.

The National Volunteer Fire Council statistics state most volunteer firefighters serve for five years.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who’ve been here since the Haywood Department started and that’s been 26 years. If they were at a paid department they could have retired after 20 years,” White said. “They don’t leave because we can’t afford to lose them.” 

The volunteers have to go through the same training that paid firefighters receive, he said. There are just fewer training hours required. Many volunteers end up taking the same amount of training hours required of paid departments.

Most people don’t realize that in 85 percent of Kentucky the first responder for their area is a volunteer. There are nine fire departments in Barren County and eight of them are volunteer, White said.

Gary Fancher, chief of the North Metcalfe Volunteer Fire Department, said the biggest issue facing his department and volunteer department’s throughout Metcalfe County is having enough firefighters available to respond to calls in the middle of the day.

The number available varies by the day because some guys work swing shifts, but on the worst days there are just a handful of volunteers available for calls, Fancher said.

“We used to have a lot more guys who farmed and were available at any time to respond to calls,” he said. “Now a lot of guys have a job during the day and go home to do farm stuff in the afternoon.”

The department like most others has a much larger response to fire calls in the afternoon and night, Fancher said.

“Just like everybody else our guys have to work,” he said.

Fancher said he would like to have 30 volunteer firefighters, but currently has 25 on his roster.

Part of the issue with recruiting new volunteer firefighters is the economy. A lot of people cannot afford the fuel costs associated with making medical or fire runs, White said. The department can’t offer an sort of funding for fuel to respond.

The Haywood Department has room for 25 firefighters on its roster, but currently only has 18, he said. For most calls only five to 10 firefighters can typically respond.

“We say all the time pride is our only pay,” White said.

Fancher agreed that younger people simply don’t volunteer to be firefighters the way they had in the past.

Part of Fancher’s goal in recruiting is to turn his department into more of a community center. He wants to add a playground and other features to the department.

“One of the most important things is having a fast response,” he said. “It will improve response dramatically to have people hanging around and at the fire department.”

Horse Cave Volunteer Fire Chief Donnie Parker said that unlike many of the other department’s locally his department has enough volunteers. The department currently has a roster of 22.

“We’ve been really lucky,” he said. “We were in the same position (as other departments) and then we’ve gotten some new guys.”

Horse Cave is also lucky that most of the volunteers work within the city and their employers are willing to allow them to leave and respond to calls, Parker said.

“Some areas don’t have as much luck with their employers,” he said.

Horse Cave currently has 10 firefighters under the age of 30, Parker said. The younger firefighters tend to respond to the most calls.

The key is for most departments to have 12 to 14 firefighters who are very active, he said.

The department has five new volunteers who have completed their emergency medical technician training and are just waiting to take their license test, Parker said.

“They will be a great benefit to the city,” he said “They’ll be able to respond to all the medical calls.”