City council to advertise for volunteer firefighters to supplement paid department
Uniontown City Council recently took the unusual step of voting to advertise for volunteer firefighters to supplement the nine-member paid fire department.
Fire Chief Dane “Buck” Griffith said the problem facing the department when it comes to volunteers is simple.
“I don’t have any,” Griffith said.
“I have about five active volunteers that I can count on.”
At present, three paid firefighters are on duty at a time, two at the Beeson Avenue station and one at the East End station.
“When the alarm comes in, everybody goes. We run the aerial truck and two pumpers to every reported fire,” Griffith said.
Griffith said he’d love to have six to eight firefighters on every call.
“According to the National Fire Protection Association, it’s two in and two out. They don’t want anyone in a building unless there are two men outside to back them up and two going in. We can’t do that,” Griffith said.
Griffith said the problem is even worse when the department responds to one of the high rise apartment buildings.
One firefighter handles lobby control and two go to the scene of the reported problem.
If the problem is serious, or the first two firefighters run into problems, they are dependent on the volunteers from surrounding fire departments to back them up.
“It used to be when you pulled up to a scene, there were guys there waiting for you,” Griffith said.
The problem is not unique to Uniontown. Studies have shown that it is an issue across the state, Griffith said.
“When I joined the fire service in 1978, there were 360,000 volunteer firefighters across Pennsylvania,” Griffith said.
“Now, it’s less than 60,000.”
Griffith said that when he graduated from high school, he had to wait three years before there was an opening for a new volunteer on the fire squad.
Now, he can’t get three students to volunteer.
“We require all of our people, before they make entry into a structure, to complete the essentials program. It used to be 40 hours long. Now it’s 168 hours. It’s broken into four modules of 40 some hours each, but who has that kind of time?” Griffith said.
All volunteers also go through a criminal background check. Not all volunteers need to take the essentials class, though, Griffith said.
“There’s a place for everybody in the fire service. You may not be able to respond to a fire, but you can help clean up the station, or be there to answer the phones,” he said.
Griffith said other states offer volunteer firefighters educational benefits and significant tax breaks.
“The only thing we offer to guys is a $10,000 death benefit and a banquet in February,” Griffith said.
One local business, Sweeney Fitness and Rehabilitation on Gallatin Avenue, recently offered Uniontown’s firefighters free memberships because the space they had used for a fitness room is being renovated for use as a temporary Central Court.
Griffith said that while he doesn’t anticipate a lot of volunteers because of the free fitness opportunity, it does help the current firefighters stay in shape.
“I’m 59 years old and I feel it. A guy 60 years old shouldn’t be here maybe,” Griffith said.
Griffith said the average age of the Uniontown Fire Department members is 58, with one 84-year-old member who works bingo. Griffith said a few younger firefighters are needed to show up on a regular basis at fire scenes.