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Updated: 8:27 PM Mar 7, 2010
Emergency Requirements Increase, Volunteer Firefighters Dwindle
As the amount of training needed to become a basic firefighter increases, the number of willing volunteers is decreasing.
Posted: 7:08 PM Mar 7, 2010Reporter: Carrie Jones Email Address: carrie.jones@wsaz.com |
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39 Comments 
SISSONVILLE, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- As the amount of training needed to become a basic firefighter increases, the number of willing volunteers is decreasing.
Volunteer firefighters were required to have 60 hours of basic training, now it's doubled to 120 hours. That extra time is proving to be a problem for many Volunteer Fire Departments.
Along with the added hours comes more responsibility. Dealing with hazardous materials, technical rescues and basic first response medical skills are becoming mandates for volunteers.
"We can get folks in and they are gun-ho, then the time demands sit on them and they are confronted with family life, work life and they have to choose and a lot of times we are left out," said Jeff Cash.
Cash is part of the National Volunteer Fire Council and also Chief of the Cherryville Volunteer Fire Department in North Carolina. This weekend, he made the trek to West Virginia to offer some advice on recruiting and retaining volunteers at the 4th Annual Sissonville Fire & Rescue School.
Cash says "the volunteers save communities all across the nation over $37 Billion in fire protection. So, we are going to have to look at some of those tax dollars to be used to implement incentive programs to keep volunteers."
Many firefighters are in favor of incentives like tax breaks for training and even insurance benefits.
In West Virginia, statistics show that departments are losing 5% of their volunteers each year.
Latest Comments
So DCFF, one example proves your point? It is a simple FACT that in WV volunteer response times are much worse than career. I'm not knocking those guys, they have to sleep, work etc. Its just the nature of volunteer service.
go look up the response times for davis creek fire dept. we get 9 people out (two full crews) at 3 in the morning marking in route within a minute of being dispatched
it would be nice if there were still companies that are willing to let their employees leave work when there is a call. very few if any will alloy their workers to leave.
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