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Alna Fire Chief Mike Trask fills portable water packs as volunteer firefighters from six different departments fight a brush fire in Wiscasset Sunday, May 10. Representatives from the Alna Volunteer Fire Department recently spoke with Alna selectmen about recruitment and retention issues experienced by the department. (Abigail Adams photo) |
By Abigail W. Adams
Representatives from the Alna Volunteer Fire Department attended the Alna Board of Selectmen meeting May 6 to discuss the local impact of the recruitment issues plaguing volunteer fire departments across the state.
With the loss of four members trained to enter burning buildings within a year, member Kathy Pendleton told selectmen the fire department was in need of ideas and support for recruiting and retaining members.
“Is there some magic bullet?” Pendleton said. Her presentation was cut short by a page to provide mutual aid for a fire in Whitefield.
There are approximately 18 members on the roster of Alna’s fire department with varying degrees of availability, Fire Chief Mike Trask said. The average age of the department is 54, Trask said.
“There’s a job for everyone at the department,” Trask said. Younger recruits are needed, however, for the heavy lifting and physical labor required for some calls.
Alna was forced to close its first responder unit in February due to the lack of new recruits.
Alna currently pays its members $12 an hour for responding to calls. The stipend is not enough to draw people into the department. Oftentimes, when members leave their primary job to respond to calls, they end up losing money, Trask said.
Greater incentives are needed to draw in new recruits and retain them, Trask said. The issue of recruitment at volunteer fire departments is a statewide concern, and various local and statewide proposals have emerged to address the issue.
“This is not just Alna,” Trask said. “Everyone is asking for ideas, so there’s no better time than now to bring this up as an issue.”
Damariscotta Fire Chief John Roberts introduced a proposal to Damariscotta selectmen in April requesting a property tax exemption as a method to recruit and retain members.
According to the proposal, firefighters at least 55 years old and with at least 10 years of active service would qualify for a property tax exemption ranging from $1,000 to $4,000, depending on their length of service and property tax bill.
“That was a really interesting proposal,” Trask said. “Taxes are high everywhere and that could be a really good incentive.”
Various incentive proposals have been considered on the state and federal level with little success. Rep. Jeff Evangelos, I-Friendship, has reintroduced a bill to the Maine Legislature that called for funding benefits for volunteer firefighters by increasing the sales tax on consumer fireworks to 10 percent.
A similar bill approved by the Legislature last year was vetoed by Gov. Paul LePage. The House overrode the veto, but the Senate fell two votes short, and the veto was upheld.
“I can’t understand why the Legislature won’t do the right thing,” Trask said.
Trask said he hopes to engage in discussions with selectmen and the greater community about recruitment and retention at the volunteer fire department. “This is going to take a town effort,” Trask said.
To learn more about the Alna Volunteer Fire Department, visit http://alnafire.weebly.com or call 687-7011.
