By Keith Whitcomb Jr.
RUTLAND HERALD
Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced a bill he says will triple funding for firefighter recruitment and retention throughout the impending five years.
Sanders announced the introduction of the Firefighter Staffing and Support Act on Monday, a little more than a week after he hosted an online panel discussion with federal and state fire officials as well as a number of local firefighter and emergency services leaders.
“Career and volunteer fire departments in Vermont and across America are facing unprecedented challenges,” Sanders stated in a release. “The difficulty in recruiting and retaining personnel is an absolute crisis that has left fire departments and the communities they protect dangerously short-staffed. There are a lot of reasons why we are where we are. But in my view, one thing is entirely clear: Our firefighters, both volunteer and paid, put their lives on the line to protect our communities, but they are not getting the proper support and resources they need and deserve. It’s time for that to change.”
The bill calls for $12 billion during the next five years to be funneled through two existing grant programs, the Assistance to Firefighters Grant and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant. It also funds programs that offer technical assistance to those seeking to apply for these funds.
According to Sanders, the bill requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the federal Fire Administration to develop an action plan for streamlining the grant application process. They would also have to create a report noting in detail the challenges faced by rural, volunteer departments with regard to staffing and develop a plan to use federal funds to address them. The bill also includes protections for volunteers against being fired, demoted, or discriminated against by their employer if they respond to a federal emergency or major disaster.
In Vermont, 96% of fire departments are all or mostly volunteer. Nationally, it’s 86%. It’s estimated that the donated time from volunteers is valued at $46.9 billion per year. According to Sanders, the number of volunteer firefighters hit a 40-year low in 2017, while call volumes in the past three decades have tripled. This is in part due to an increase in medical calls, stated Sanders, citing information from the National Volunteer Fire Council.
Assistance to Firefighters Grants help pay for vehicles and equipment. Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response can pay for hiring, recruitment, and retention efforts. According to Sanders, though these programs were budgeted for $1 billion, each only got $360 million in the past year.
Wendi Fitz-Gerald, chief of Fair Haven Rescue Squad, said Tuesday that she’s glad to hear funding is being increased for the training and equipment programs, but hopes it ultimately goes further.
“I just hope they include verbiage that opens it up to EMS services that provide 911 coverage for communities that are not municipally run,” she said. “A lot of the services in Rutland County are not town departments … and sometimes we’re kind of left out. We all face the same struggles no matter where we are with funding and education.”
A basic EMT course can be expensive, she said.
“We’re very lucky in our district that some of that cost is being deferred through district support, but there are a lot of people who’ve taken courses in other districts and the cost is $1,000 to $1,500 just to start,” said Fitz-Gerald, adding that these folks also need to keep up with their training. “That’s asking an awful lot for a volunteer.”
U.S. Fire Administrator Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell was with Sanders at the panel discussion at the end of January. She noted that the points being raised by the Vermont volunteers are the same as the one’s she’s hearing all over the country.
“I think everyone in our field is exhausted,” she said. “Not to mention the world itself, but certainly in the first responder realm. Some of these problems existed before COVID and now they have been exacerbated and orders of magnitude are different than they were before. As we talk about recruitment, this is a problem that is affecting a majority of departments regardless of type across the country. Because of a number of factors that vary a bit across area and region, we are seeing an overall drop in applicants nationwide.”
A number of people on the January call spoke to recruitment and retention.
Mariah Whitcomb, deputy chief of Thetford Fire Department, said the lack of volunteers isn’t necessarily due to a lack of interest.
“Mostly it is lack of time, lack of resources, lack of incentive. I recognize that extrinsic incentives such as money don’t always work. However, they are a start. And sometimes we do need to look at that to get people on board, to then foster that feeling that (Brett LaRose, chief of the Bristol Fire Department) talked about within the fire service of respect and pride in the work that we all do,” she said.
keith.whitcomb @rutlandherald.com
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