{"id":11973,"date":"2019-05-09T16:57:35","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T20:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wakeforestgazette.com\/?p=11973"},"modified":"2019-05-09T16:57:35","modified_gmt":"2019-05-09T20:57:35","slug":"letter-to-the-editor-urgency-for-volunteer-firefighters-hits-critical-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wakeforestgazette.com\/letter-to-the-editor-urgency-for-volunteer-firefighters-hits-critical-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to the editor: Urgency for volunteer firefighters hits critical stage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Fire Chief Barry Spain, Fairview Rural Fire Department, and endorsed by Tracy Mosley, program manager of the North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs<\/em><\/p>\n<p>To the editor:<\/p>\n<p>In every age, wherever people have built communities, the danger of fire has loomed on the periphery. Calm summer evenings and quiet wintery nights have been spliced by the sound of a fire station alarm. Men and women from all walks of life have scrambled to the call, harnessing equipment and mustering courage to rush to the aid of those in need. And the majority of those men and women are volunteers. Volunteers staffed the first fire companies in the U.S., and not much has changed \u2026 except their numbers..<\/p>\n<p>In Wake County, North Carolina, the volunteer firefighter shortage has reached a critical emergency state. Every 4.1 days in North Carolina a life is lost to fire. That\u2019s one person gone every week or less.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re taking action. The North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs (NCAFC) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) launched a campaign with 14 North Carolina counties, including Wake County, to boost volunteer firefighter recruitment. To support our vital efforts, the NCAFC obtained a SAFER grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).<\/p>\n<p>Volunteers make up the largest part of the fire service in our state. According to FEMA, 72 percent of North Carolina firefighters are volunteers, and 91.2 percent of departments are all or mostly volunteer. North Carolina fire departments have lost an average of 600 firefighters every year since 2016; nationally, this is an epidemic.<\/p>\n<p>Our strategy includes a combination of traditional methods of recruitment along with using advancing technology to pinpoint with high accuracy the communities likely to have recruit candidates. We\u2019re offering leadership workshops aimed at improving retention. We are also strategizing new ways to approach this problem, from policy changes in government to finding methods to encourage and reward volunteers for their critical work. Our team is advocating for employers who allow volunteers to take time to help their communities or who embark on a journey to pursue a firefighting career.<\/p>\n<p>What are the stark effects of this volunteer shortage? Fewer volunteers create the need for us to call on other departments outside our district to assist. This strains other departments and leaves fewer firefighters to respond if a fire breaks out elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>We are clear on many of the obstacles to recruitment; it\u2019s hard to get volunteers because they\u2019re working a tough job with no pay. Sometimes there\u2019s no clear path to a career in firefighting, and a fast-paced, hectic life doesn\u2019t always translate to a second career as a volunteer firefighter.<\/p>\n<p>And while the recruitment campaign is showing progress, we\u2019re not out of the woods yet. We hope to connect with non-traditional candidates, regardless age, gender, race or current skill set, to help find them a place. We beckon entire families to volunteer, so when the alarm rings, not just mom or dad rushes out, but the whole family has a role to play. We\u2019re looking for administrative and support volunteers, people who are instrumental in the survival of our department.<\/p>\n<p>Here in Wake County, you can be part of the solution \u2013 as a volunteer, an advocate, a neighbor helping your neighbor. Anyone, from grandparents and teachers to college students and mechanics, can play a role.<\/p>\n<p>Since our country\u2019s foundation, volunteers have banded together to keep us safe from the hazards of fire. It is probably one of our most iconic American traits, to rush to the aid of our fellow man &#8212; a tradition and a vital need that my colleagues and I are determined to see survive. Please join us.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.weneedfirefighters.com\">www.weneedfirefighters.com<\/a> or text the word \u201cFirefighter\u201d to 88799.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Fire Chief Barry Spain, Fairview Rural Fire Department, and endorsed by Tracy Mosley, program manager of the North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs To the editor: In every age, wherever people have built communities, the danger of fire has loomed on the periphery. Calm summer evenings and quiet wintery nights have been spliced by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Letter to the editor: Urgency for volunteer firefighters hits critical stage - The Wake Forest Gazette - Local News &amp; Events in Wake Forest, NC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Fire Chief Barry Spain, Fairview Rural Fire Department, and endorsed by Tracy Mosley, program manager of the North Carolina Association of Fire Chiefs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wakeforestgazette.com\/letter-to-the-editor-urgency-for-volunteer-firefighters-hits-critical-stage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Letter to the editor: Urgency for volunteer firefighters hits critical stage - The Wake Forest Gazette - Local News &amp; 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