Departments fire up efforts to recruit, retain firefighters

Feb. 27--DECATUR -- When a camper caught on fire last fall in Blue Mound, the local fire department received the call.

As the firetruck raced to the scene, it was manned by the only two volunteer firefighters who were available. When it came time to fight the fire, one held the hose while the other one worked the truck.

For the village and similarly sized towns across the country, this level of response is all too common.

"People just don't have the time to volunteer," said Blue Mound Fire Chief Bryce Thiele. "They have kids, they have jobs and families. It's just nobody can dedicate the time."

The Blue Mound Fire Department, like most places outside of major metropolitan areas, relies on volunteer firefighters to offer their time and services to respond to emergencies.

Of Illinois' 1,104 fire departments, 67 percent are completely volunteer forces, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. Another 14.5 percent of Illinois fire departments are deemed "mostly volunteer."

Becoming a volunteer firefighter is not simply a matter of showing up at the door and asking to join. Aside from being on call, volunteers are required to take hours of classes to be certified and retain peak training.

"The time commitment ... the training and all that can really add up," Harristown Fire Protection District Chief Steve Gambrill said. "Being a firefighter is not just jumping in a shiny truck and driving it around."

Like Thiele, Gambrill said he cannot recall the last time he had a full roster of volunteers. After his numbers dipped as low as 19 volunteers three years ago, Gambrill said they have leveled off at 24 to 27. The full roster would be 30.

"We're holding our own, but we would always like to have some more people," Gambrill said.

A recurring theme is heard from fire chiefs about recruiting volunteers: the inconsistent hours, lack of pay and inability to spend more time with their families has made volunteer firefightering less appealing for potential recruits.

The problem is worsened on weekdays when people are at work, as well as on nice weekends when volunteers are spending time at home.

With that, officials have to step up their recruitment efforts, even if they know they will not have much more to offer than a small stipend or life insurance policy.

The Illinois Fire Chiefs Association has spent the past few years offering seminars to help officials recruit and retain members.

The major suggestions have been for a grass-roots effort to meet personally with local residents to bring awareness to the issue and find those who may not even know about the volunteer positions.

"People in the community expect when they call 911 that the fire department to show up," said Al Yancey, the chief of the Minooka Fire Department. He chairs the association's volunteer committee to help recruit and retain volunteers. "One of the issues with these smaller communities is they sometime struggle to send people out the door to fight the fire."

Local leaders need to specify to residents just how they can assist, Yancey said. Even if someone is not able or willing to fight fires, he said they can volunteerat such tasks as clerical work.

Some of those efforts have been undertaken by Blue Mound and other places. Thiele said his department takes part in local festivals and events and has increased the use of fliers and social media to show things that volunteers get to do, such as participate in a class on forcible entry.

"Who doesn't like to get in and get their hands dirty and tear things up?" Thiele said.

Other departments look to youth to find their recruits.

The Warrensburg Fire Department is one of several to have a cadet program, which allows locals younger than 18 to learn about the day-to-day workings of a firehouse.

While the cadets do not get to go on calls, Warrensburg Fire Chief Keith Hackl said they spend time in the firehouse and are sent to some training to learn more about the profession.

"We try to build those up to where, when those kids turn 18, they may want to become firefighters," Hackl said. "It may not be here, but they'll be a firefighter somewhere."

Hackl said Warrensburg's all-volunteer department has 22 volunteers, while having enough openings for 30.

Other departments have fared better.

The Argenta-Oreana Fire Department has been fortunate in recent years, as Fire Chief Cory White said they have been able to have 25 volunteers at each of their two firehouses. As to why the department has avoided the struggle of so many others, White was unsure.

"I wish I had the magic answer, but I do not," White said. "We've been incredibly fortunate in that regard, and I don't want to jinx it."

The department has put a special focus on making it less a responsibility for the volunteers who provide their time. White said it is common to have big cookouts and gatherings for the volunteers and their families as a token of thanks.

"Our department, it's not an organization; we run it as a family," White said. "We want to keep all our families involved in the community."

Long Creek Fire Protection District Chief Mark Lawrence is in a similar situation: His department also has a full roster of 24 volunteers, along with two full-time firefighters.

It has not always been the case for the department. Lawrence said they have struggled during times of economic hardship when recruits had to focus on their personal lives.

The lack of volunteers has been helped with the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, an organization that allows for increased collaboration among agencies to respond to emergencies.

Fifteen fire departments and fire districts in Macon County are members of the association, which Thiele said has allowed for multiple departments to be dispatched to assist with a fire.

The system has been a big help as officials continue their efforts to find new volunteers, but Gambrill said even the best recruiting efforts may not be enough.

"Some people are wired to do this; some people are not," Gambrill said. "If a person is not inclined to do this, they're not going to stay here very long."

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