But Kettering Volunteer Firefighters President Ryan Parker said the number of active volunteers who handle much of the night and weekend work is down to 50 or 60.
That’s a nationwide problem, according to Bernie Ingles, president of the Ohio Fire Chiefs Association. Ingles said Ohio fire departments have 15,729 volunteer firefighters, or almost 5,000 fewer than his group says are needed.
Kettering Fire Chief Bob Miles said while volunteers currently receive nominal payment per incident, the new hourly pay system should make those jobs more attractive, helping his department recruit and retain more people.
City Manager Mark Schwieterman said the new plan will not increase personnel costs, because the cheaper part-timers will fill spots currently covered by full-timers on expensive overtime.
Miles said the part-timers also will solve some coverage problems in the city.
David Parker, president of Kettering’s firefighters union, said it has been common for an engine or ambulance to be put “out of service” on a given night because there are not enough volunteers to staff it, meaning an emergency response may have to come from another station.
“This plan would allow us to achieve what we’re supposed to be achieving now,” Parker said. “If (the city) can keep the people they have and recruit new, it should help.”
Schwieterman said constant turnover in the volunteer firefighter ranks is one reason the city is switching to a part-time, hourly pay system.
“It’s a change in the fire service — 50 years ago, people volunteered because it was the right thing to do,” Schwieterman said. “Now, a lot of our younger folks want to get into the fire business. They use volunteer positions to get a foot in the door and get trained, and we have a difficult time retaining them.”
Miles said pay is a factor in that difficulty. Currently, volunteers are paid $10 per run, regardless of whether it’s a quick ambulance run or a four-hour house fire. They also accrue points based on the type of service, paying them an additional small amount. The new hourly system will start part-timers who have Level 1 EMT certification at $12 to $18 per hour when they are staffing a fire station or responding to a call from home.
“Now when (beginning firefighters) look at possible places to work, they can look at the townships, they can look at us, and we can be competitive,” Schwieterman said.
Ryan Parker, president of the Kettering Volunteer Firefighters, said he does the job because he loves Kettering, but he said adding the incentive could allow Kettering to maintain staffing in line with surrounding communities.
Parker said the new system offers the ability to move some part-timers to different stations when needed. Kettering’s volunteers currently respond on call to a single assigned fire station near their home. The new system will allow part-timers whose own stations are well-staffed to fill in at other stations that are low on volunteers and might otherwise go out of service temporarily.
Ingles said Kettering is one of three or four departments in Ohio currently looking at hiring part-time staff to cut down on expensive overtime. Ingles said volunteer ranks have suffered because of the economy and the time commitment needed to maintain state certification.
Ryan Parker said Kettering’s part-timers will still have to put in on-call hours from home, and Miles said they’ll have to live within a five-minute drive from one of the city’s seven fire stations.
Ryan Parker expressed confidence in the new system, saying it’s the product of lengthy meetings involving volunteers, career staff and administration each month since October.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2278 or jkelley@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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