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CNY Faces Volunteer Firefighter Shortage CNY Volunteer Firefighter Shortage

By Jeremy Hochman

ANCHOR: THE AMOUNT OF VOLUNTEER FIGHTERS IN NEW YORK HAS BEEN ON A CONSTANT DECLINE.

ANCHOR: NCC NEWS REPORTER JEREMY HOCHMAN FOUND OUT WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE COST OF FIRE PROTECTION.

REPORTER: FOR A VOLUNTEER TO ENTER A BURNING BUILDING 30 YEARS AGO, ABOUT 40 HOURS OF TRAINING WERE REQUIRED. TODAY THEY TRAIN FOR OVER 150 HOURS, A LARGE REASON WHY THE NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS HAS DECREASED 20 PERCENT OVER THE LAST 3 YEARS IN NEW YORK STATE.

SHAWN TOMPKINS: “THE TIME DEMANDS TO BE A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER NOW ARE A LITTLE MORE THAN THEY USED TO BE, TRAINING REQUIREMENTS ARE A LITTLE MORE HEAVY THAN THEY USED TO BE AND EVERYBODY WANTS A PIECE OF THAT TIME FROM YOU THAT MAYBE YOU DON’T HAVE ANYMORE.”

REPORTER: DANTE GAROFALO WHO IS THE RESCUE CAPTAIN AT ONONDAGA HILL SAYS VOLUNTEERS SHY AWAY BECAUSE OF THE DAUNTING NUMBER OF TRAINING HOURS.

DANTE GAROFALO: “IT’S DISHEARTENING THE FACT THAT PEOPLE AREN’T PUTTING IN AS MUCH AS THEY USED TO. IT’S SAD TO SEE THE DECLINE OF THE VOLUNTEER FIRE SERVICE IN AMERICA.”

REPORTER: THE AMOUNT OF VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS ARE AT AN ALL TIME LOW IN CENTRAL NEW YORK. BUT THE CALL VOLUME HAS ALMOST TRIPLED AT THE SAME TIME.

JEFF KUNSMAN: “IT’S AFFECTING US HUGE. WE’RE GOING TO SECOND ACTIVATION A LOT OF TIME WE’RE WAITING A LITTLE BIT LONGER TO GET A TRUCK OUT TO HELP THE COMMUNITY LIKE THAT.”

REPORTER: IN THE 1990S FIRE STATIONS AROUND NEW YORK COULD COULD RESPOND WITH 30-40 PERSONNEL ON A GOOD NIGHT. NOW, STATIONS MIGHT ONLY HAVE 4 OR 5 ON A BAD NIGHT.

TOM ROTELLA: “WE DO ABOUT 1600 CALLS A YEAR AND IF YOU TALK TO THE GUYS THAT HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR 30-40 YEARS, THEY WERE DOING 130 CALLS WHEN THEY FIRST GOT IN SO IT’S TOTALLY SHIFTED FROM NOT THAT BIG OF A COMMITMENT TO IT’S A HUGE COMMITMENT.”

COLIN BURNS: “THAT MAKES IT REALLY HARD TO HAVE A HOME LIFE AND QUITE HONESTLY IT’S HARD FOR ME TO LEAVE MY THREE KIDS AND WIFE ON MY DAY OFF TO GO TO THE FIREHOUSE TO DO TRAINING ESPECIALLY WHEN I DO IT AT WORK AND SPEND ALL THAT TIME AWAY FROM THEM AS IT IS.”

REPORTER: THE FIREFIGHTERS PROMISE THAT SOMEONE WILL ALWAYS RESPOND, IT JUST MAY BE AT A HIGHER PRICE.

TOM ROTELLA: “IF THIS TREND CONTINUES WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO START PAYING PEOPLE BECAUSE WE’RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THE SAME SERVICE THAT WE’RE ABLE TO PROVIDE TODAY, THAT MEANS YOUR TAX BILLS ARE GOING TO GO UP.”

REPORTER: LESS VOLUNTEERS MAY MEAN MORE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THOSE WHO MAKE THE COMMITMENT, BUT THEY’RE MORE THAN PREPARED FOR THE CHALLENGE.

JEFF KUNSMAN: “MY FATHER DID IT, MY GRANDFATHER DID IT. I’M FOLLOWING IN THE ROLES OF THEM AND I’VE BEEN DOING IT SINCE I WAS 16. COULDN’T SEE MYSELF NOT DOING IT.”

REPORTER: REPORTING FOR NCC NEWS, IM JEREMY HOCHMAN

ANCHOR: WITH AN INCREASE IN CALLS AROUND NEW YORK STATE AND LESS VOLUNTEERS TO RESPOND TO THEM, SOME STATIONS ARE DOING MORE RECRUITMENT AND TRYING TO REACH OUT TO A YOUNGER AGE GROUP.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – Today volunteer firefighters in New York State train for over 150 hours. Firefighters from various stations in Central New York attribute the 20% decrease of volunteers over the last three years to the new training requirements. Career firefighters are more expensive and stations will have to start hiring more of them if this trend continues.

Thirty years ago, volunteers trained for about 40 hours in order to enter a burning building. At that time, they also received about 130 calls a year.

“It’s disheartening that people aren’t putting in as much as they used to,” Dante Garafalo, a rescue captain at Onondaga Hill said. “It’s sad to see the decline of the volunteer fire service in America.”

While the number of volunteer firefighters is at an all time low in Central New York, the number of calls stations receive has tipled at the same time.

“We do about 1,600 calls a year and if you talk to the guys that have been around for 30 to 40 years, they were doing 130 calls when they first got in so it’s totally shifted from not that big of a commitment to it’s a huge commitment,” said Tom Rotella, a captain at Solvay Fire Department.

“That makes it really hard to have a home life and quite honestly it’s hard for me to leave my three kids and wife on my day off to go to the firehouse to do training especially when I do it at work and spend all that time away from them as it is,” said Colin Burns from Dewitt Fire Department.

Now, with fewer volunteers, stations are doing more recruitment and trying to reach out to a younger age group.

If this trend continues, changes will have to be made. Rotella said that there will always be someone who responds, but the decrease in volunteers will affect those at home.

“We’re going to have to start paying people so we’re able to provide the same service that we’re able to provide today, that means your tax bills are going to go up,” said Tom Rotella.

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