Volunteer fire departments face challenges

Editor’s note: This is the second article in a two-part series looking at the response times of area fire departments.

A shortage of daytime personnel is the biggest problem facing volunteer fire departments in Onslow County, says Hubert VFD Chief Wayne Forsythe.

“Back in the day, you had people being able to get off work and go to these emergencies,” he said. “A lot of times now employers won’t let people leave.”

The struggle to find available personnel combined with the nature of volunteer firefighting adds vital minutes to response times, he said.

From Jan. 1 to June 1 of this year, Hubert VFD had an average response time of 6.4 minutes, according to data provided by Onslow County Emergency Services.

But Jacksonville Fire Department Chief Rick McIntyre said averages don’t paint an accurate picture when it comes to response times.

“Averages are easy, but it doesn’t really tell you anything,” he said. “It’s not a good way to measure effectiveness or efficiency.”

Director of Emergency Services Ron Wakeham said while there are challenges to overcome, decreasing response times is a reachable goal. One thing that could make a difference is switching from the old-fashioned system of calculating average response time to the modern method of calculating the percentage of calls a station responds to within a set amount of time.

“I think whether it’s paid or volunteer, there’s always room for improvement — the key is not to have a closed mind on changes,” he said.

Emergency Services put together a breakdown using the percentage model for volunteer fire department response times in Onslow County in 2009, using a standard of responding to 80 percent of calls within eight minutes.

Only four of the 20 volunteer fire departments met that goal: Bear Creek, Belgrade, Turkey Creek and Verona.

Hubert VFD responded to 341 calls in 2009 and made it within eight minutes 49 percent of the time. Forsythe attributes part of that to how volunteer firefighters have to respond versus paid firefighters.

When dispatch receives a call in Hubert VFD’s service area, the firefighters are paged. Those available to respond must first report to the station to man the trucks. This can add several minutes to response times, he said.

And with less than 600 volunteer firefighters responsible for 700 square miles, Wakeham said, it’s not always possible to get somewhere quickly.

All together, volunteer fire departments in Onslow County responded to 3,702 calls in 2009, according to data provided by Emergency Services.

Volunteers needed

Forsythe said about 45 volunteers serve Hubert VFD. Most of them are Marines or paid firefighters from fire departments in Carteret County, Jacksonville and aboard Camp Lejeune who volunteer on their days off.

So during the day, most of Hubert’s firefighters are working jobs that can’t be put on hold to respond to a fire, he said.

“We know that with our urbanizing county it is more difficult for families to survive with only one income, and often times people have more than one job,” Jeff Hudson, Onslow County manager, said. “This change in our economic environment has also changed the ability of our community to volunteer.”

JFD Deputy Chief Spencer Lee agreed, pointing out that response times on any given day are directly affected by how many volunteers are available.

“We have the advantage of having stations and equipment manned 24 hours a day, whereas volunteer departments rely on people being at home responding to calls,” he said. “Across the nation, there’s a shortage of volunteerism, period.”

Some volunteer fire departments have created full-time, paid positions, but many are staffed on a completely volunteer basis, including Hubert, Forsythe said.

Lack of funding

While Onslow County provides yearly financial support to volunteer fire departments, the stations rely mainly on fundraisers and donations from the public.

“Firefighting is an expensive business with no immediate financial reward,” McIntyre said. “Funding is a challenge.”

A shortage of funds affects response times because some stations can’t afford more modern, effective equipment or renovated facilities. It also means most stations can’t afford to create paid positions that would guarantee daytime response.

“We do barbecues, bingo, and whatever fundraisers we can,” Forsythe said.

A recent sales tax increase in Onslow County may provide some much-needed relief. Hudson said the county has already set aside $500,000 from the increase to go toward improvements in fire and rescue service, although how it will be used has not yet been determined.

Hudson said he has scheduled five evening meetings this coming week between representatives of fire and rescue services and county staff to address staffing and system issues.

“The meetings are to evaluate whether we need to have fundamental changes in the way the county supports fire departments and rescue squads,” he said. “Various studies have indicated that we need to go to a combination paid/volunteer staff at departments.”

Outdated equipment, buildings

With drastic improvements in firefighting apparatus over the last 10 years, volunteer departments using decades-old trucks and equipment are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to response time and firefighter safety, McIntyre said.

The last three firefighter deaths in Onslow County were vehicle related, he said, and many older vehicles are not equipped with the safety features available today. Finding parts for specialty vehicles manufactured so long ago is also a challenge.

“The county has for decades now provided contributions to fire service and to rescue service and they’ve used those contributions to procure equipment,” Hudson said. “It’s not been the county’s practice to purchase fire equipment for volunteer squads.”

It is up to each station to decide what the funds will be used for.