State leader visits Hibriten fire program

May 17--Volunteer fire departments are the backbone of the fire service, so boosting the low recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters across the state is vital, a state official said Thursday in a visit to Caldwell County.

Junior firefighter programs, like Hibriten High School's, are one the of the answers the the growing problem. N.C. Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, who also is the state fire marshal, visited students of the Hibriten program to explain why they're making a difference.

"Fire departments are really having a hard time recruiting volunteer firefighters," he said. "People today have so many choices of things to do, ... they don't feel that sense of community to take time and volunteer."

Causey said he hears from departments who lose 80 to 90 percent of their volunteer firefighters after a short time, so he travels the state commending programs like Hibriten's and encouraging counties without junior firefighter training programs to start them.

"If we don't get them right out of high school, we're not going to get them when they're 25 or 30," he said.

Students learning under Chief Sam Smith get to train with real equipment donated by various fire departments, including Lenoir and the Patterson Fire Department, which donates old equipment replaced by new equipment that often paid for by grant money from the state insurance office.

Smith said his job is clear -- to provide the local fire departments with new recruits.

"My only job is to build firefighters," Smith said. "People aren't stepping up as much into public service."

Lenoir Fire Chief Ken Hair said Hibriten's program has helped with volunteer and professional recruitment.

"This program has been crucial to is as far as getting applicants," Hair said.

The program isn't just for volunteer firefighting, Causey said, it encourages students to volunteer even if they go into firefighting professionally.

"We see a large number of professional firefighters that are paid -- that's their careers -- then they volunteer at other departments," he said.

Causey also visited with Lenoir and Caldwell County officials, State Farm Insurance agents and the Patterson Fire Department.

Reporter Virginia Annable can be reached at 828-610-8724.

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