Jefferson County Battling High Cost of Hiring Volunteer Firefighters

When the Jefferson County Emergency Services Agency won a Federal Emergency Management Agency Staffing For Adequate Fire and Emergency Response award for $960,710 this fall, the plan was simple: Use the funds to recruit and retain more volunteer firefighters for the county's seven fire departments.

That goal, however, has been anything but simple to meet.

The word "volunteer" often implies "free." But Denise Pouget, director of the Jefferson County Emergency Services Agency, said recruiting, training and retaining firefighters in Jefferson County is a challenging and expensive endeavor.

"To bring a volunteer into the company costs around $6,000 per person," Pouget said. "It costs $3,000 to put gear on their backs, $1,500 to put them through fire school, a $1,000 physical required by the federal government, plus money for workman's comp and other insurance. Typically, the fire stations incur all of the cost."

She noted the FEMA grant for the county, which will pay out over a fouryear period that began last month, will help offset those costs and enable fire stations to be able to recruit more volunteers.

"Here is the importance of this grant: It is hard for them, particularly the smaller companies, to take on more people - the gear, the cost of training - to take more volunteers," she said. "Our numbers are low, and we are trying to beef up our numbers. It gets them new help."

The county currently has approximately 160 volunteer firefighters and the goal is to add 100 more. Pouget said the smaller companies must provide fire and rescue services with fewer resources and fewer volunteers.

"The little guys have less success - they are economically challenged," she said. "Think about it: If you are in Bakerton, Blue Ridge, and Middleway, you don't have as many calls. It's not as attractive if you are a young person looking to volunteer."

One such smaller fire company, the fourth busiest in Jefferson County, is Blue Ridge Mountain Fire Station. It has 35 volunteers and two full-time firefighters who take turns doing 12hour shifts.

Chief Earl Cogle, who has served as chief for 14 years and been at Blue Ridge Mountain Fire Station for 31 years, sees benefit from the new grant.

"Jefferson County has never had a grant like this before," he said. "We never have enough volunteers. The grant will help us get new members, train them, gear them - that will help us with the mounting costs.

"Just one class is $250 for a volunteer. The state of West Virginia Fire Commission gives us money, $45,000, but it doesn't go very far. It doesn't even pay for our workman's compensation that we have to have for our volunteers."

Cogle said he and other stations work to keep the costs down for the community by hosting pancake breakfasts and other ifundraisers.

"Some citizens say they pay an ambulance fee, so why do they have to pay for an ambulance bill? They don't realize the ambulance fee goes directly to staffing," Cogle said. "It does not go back to the stations directly. We don't hard bill, either. We lost $93,000 last year in uncollected bills. We don't go after people who can't afford their bill. The Blue Ridge Mountain Fire Company will never turn someone away for services (because they can't afford them)."

He said the challenge is not only getting enough volunteers but also keeping them. Many have long commutes, personal lives and other things that prevent them from dedicating hours to volunteering.

"The thing about volunteers is that they have to go to school, have a life and they have to money to cover them while they do what normal people do," Pouget said. "Everyone is limited to what they can give. There are very few independently wealthy people that can just volunteer."

Allen Keyser, a Jefferson County firefighter recruiter, was hired with the grant money. He's helping to implement some new strategies, including offering $2,000 per year toward tuition reimbursement. Keyser, who started in November, has teamed up with a firefighter recruiter already in place in Berkeley County.

"Berkeley won a similar grant," Pouget said. "They are launching a media campaign. We are hoping to entice our younger group.

"The recruiter is also working with the Volunteer Fire Department to see what their needs are - to help them coordinate taking on these people."

Keyser has been speaking at Shepherd University, Blue Ridge Community and Technical College, James Rumsey Technical Institute and the local high schools to try to help find new volunteer firefighters.

While they have a plan in place to recruit and retain more volunteer firefighters, Pouget has other goals for the Jefferson County emergency services.

Although the county has one fulltime paid firefighter assigned to the stations during peak hours, she'd like to see two full-time staffers at each fire station during peak times.

Her goal is to provide a paid, fulltime firefighter to serve as a driver for 12-hour shifts at the larger fire stations (Citizens, Shepherdstown, Independent and Blue Ridge Mountain) and then provide Harpers Ferry, Middle and Bakerton with an eight-hour shift driver to help the person who is there.

"The simple basic premise is: Let the volunteers work and have a life, and we are hoping to see them in the weekends and evenings. That would be the best of staffing models," she said. "If we have peak time, staffed peak-time drivers, when an emergency call goes out, the volunteers can come and meet the emergency vehicle on the scene if they are available.

"Having two full-time staff would allow us to have immediate response during hours when volunteers are less available."

Regardless of full-time or volunteer, Pouget is grateful for all fire and rescue personnel in the county and said the JCESA and seven volunteer fire stations will continue to work together to find ways to provide excellent fire and rescue services.

"You are getting the most cost-effective service from people who truly care about the community. They do more with less - they do a hell of a job," she said referring to the $220,000 deficit they are operating under in their $2.2 million budget.

"My hat's off to them. We are doing the best we can with what we've got and they are doing great."