Southwick Fire Inspector Ralph Vecchio places a “Help Wanted” sign in front of the Southwick Fire Department . (File photo by Frederick Gore)
GRANVILLE – Volunteers continue to staff fire departments in small municipalities around the country, and while retention is a problem for many of these small towns, that is not necessarily the case in Granville.
Fire Chief Scott Loomis – also a volunteer – said Granville has a dedicated group of volunteer firefighters and EMTs. Keeping them is not the issue – it’s attracting more that is a problem.
“The volunteers we have are in it for the long haul, but we need more,” said Loomis. “We have about eight to 10 active members, plus a few other members who are not as active.”
Loomis said he has placed ads in the town’s Country Caller, but attracting new volunteers is difficult because times have changed.
Southwick Fire Chief Richard Anderson agrees and has said many times that the volunteer pool has changed. People used to be farmers, he said, and if they were needed to help put out a fire in the past, they could be on scene in minutes. Today, most people have full-time jobs in other communities and cannot respond to tones quickly, especially during the day.
To combat that issue, Anderson has urged the town to increase its full-time paid daytime staff and now has enough firefighter/EMTs to staff the department from 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily, relying on volunteers the rest of the time. Anderson, who is a full-time paid chief, also responds to calls during the day and tries to keep a volunteer base of around 50 firefighters.
Loomis himself is a business owner but volunteers because he sees the value in having firefighters in town. He believes the main drawback for volunteers is the training involved.
“Volunteer firefighters and EMTs must be trained the same as career firefighters,” said Loomis. “It is costly and time consuming.”
While Loomis agrees the volunteers need the training, it can be a deterrent.
Granville’s Town Administrative Assistant Katherine Martin recently completed an EMT course and said it was a long commitment.
“It’s difficult to maintain our volunteer forces,” Martin said. “The training is intense.”
Loomis said a study is currently being conducted to see what the town’s emergency needs are. Only the police chief is a full-time paid employee and other police officers are paid, but work only part-time. The firefighters and EMTs are 100 percent volunteer.
“The study is being done by DIJ Management,” said Martin. “Donald Jacobs is doing it and he has a lot of experience with small towns.”
Tolland recently hired the company to study its needs, as well. Loomis said as a result of that study Tolland now has a paid fire chief in addition to a volunteer staff.
“We are just trying to look at the structure of the departments and see what is the most efficient way to use our resources to continue providing services,” Martin said.
The $5,000 DIJ study is being funded by the town. Martin said it should be complete by the time budget talks begin in March.
Several other fire chiefs in small western Massachusetts towns say it’s becoming increasingly difficult to recruit and retain firefighters for their on-call and volunteer departments.
Worthington Chief Richard Granger says he responded to 14 calls in 15 days last month and for some of them, he was alone at the scene for several minutes.
He says his department has 20 volunteers, but many have out-of-town jobs, which makes response difficult.
Shutesbury Chief Walter Tibbetts says his department has just eight members, one of whom is at college out of state while another is on leave.
He said that life is so stressful and hectic these days, people can’t make the commitment.
Cummington Chief Bernard Forgea thinks the small-town value of serving the community has diminished.
