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Cantonment VFD Response Inadequate; Chief Asks For 24/7 Paid Fire Crews
August 22, 2011
The Cantonment Volunteer Fire Department has been unable to adequately answer emergency calls, and the department’s chief has asked for a 24/7 paid firefighter crew to be assigned to the station.
“”We can no longer provide the proper minimum fire response,” Cantonment VFD District Chief Jeffery Bingle said. “We’ve got to do something to bring a career crew in for the area.”
The Cantonment Station of Escambia Fire Rescue is currently staffed from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m Monday-Friday by a paid firefighter crew. Outside of those hours and all weekend, calls are answered by volunteers.
Bingle said the department has between 15 to 18 volunteers on the roster, but only five or six of those are very active. Many of those work or go to school outside of Cantonment, leaving an inadequate response to emergency calls. And Bingle said he has become less active in the department due to an increase in responsibilities as the fire chief and emergency services team leader at his employer, Ascend Performance Materials.
“We have no other choice right now than to ask for a paid crew to be assigned to the station 24 hours a day,” Bingle said.
“As District Chief of Cantonment I am officially requesting 24 hour coverage by career personnel. At this time current volunteer staffing levels do not allow for a sufficient number of responders on calls,” Bingle wrote in an email to Escambia County Fire Chief Daniel Spillman.
Spillman is currently gathering the costs associated with 24/7 paid staffing at the Cantonment Fire Station and will ask the Escambia County Commission how to proceed, according to Sonya Daniel, county spokesperson. She said that request could come as early as this week.
In the meantime, Bingle said the Cantonment volunteers are continuing to respond to calls and requesting assistance from neighboring fire stations when there is not an adequate response. He said once a paid crew is in place, the Cantonment VFD will not be disbanded; the volunteers will continue to respond and provide assistance as needed to a paid fire crew.
“I hate doing this,” Bingle said. “I really love the volunteer department.”
Pictured: Volunteers from Cantonment and other departments responded to a wreck near the Cantonment Volunteer Fire Department on May 22, 2011. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
54 Responses to “Cantonment VFD Response Inadequate; Chief Asks For 24/7 Paid Fire Crews”
Well i have been a vol. firefighter for 15 year in cantanment and in LA. I was a LT.firefighter in cantonment tell i move to LA. and i moved back to Cantonment 21/2 years ago and got back in cantonment fire dept. at that time. i have a fulltime job and a son. i work 13- 15 hr. days and havent been able to go to monday night training and run alot of call. but if i could run i did. well the other night we had a fire in cantonment two firefighter from molino got the cantonment fire trucks out and me and another cantonment firefighter went pov to the call to have more firefighter on the call. after the fire i went to the fire house and me and one firefighter from molino got the truck back 10-8 for more calls.before we had to be at work. well at 9:09 that morning i got a text from jeff bingle saying. I appreciate your response last night but you arenot in compliance with trining or call response reqirenents so you can not respond to any calls until you take care of this. And i need all your gear and equipment as soon as possible unless you are going to come into compliance. And so now after that and 15 year of being in the fire dept. im no longing in the fire dept. and like alot of my friends i will go back after jeff bingle is not there anymore.and would be happy to get back in like i have been for a long time.
thank, SHAY MCCARRA
i will tell the problem with this county fire departments are…. this county blows more money on stuff it doesn’t need like leather couches, huge flat screen tv’s stainless steel grills, some of these volenteer stations are set up better than most people’s houses. Not to mention the $500,000 trucks they just bought, those other trucks would of lasted for years and years. These vol stations are little more than frat houses for teens to hang-out at. How do you think the general public would feel knowing that some 18 year old kids that works at a gas station is coming to your father’s heart attack call or your house buring down. I pay a fire tax and don’t get my moneys worth. they have 100’s of untrained vol’s getting paid stipend each month instead of quarter as many paid pro’s. I am all for vol helping the community but as many houses and bussiness that are in this aera the time of the vol station should be and hopefully are over. How would u like it if the ambulace just had vol on it .. or better yet how about your doctor… yeah i am sure you want a guy that works at a gas station during the day being your vol doctor on the side. All the folks up on the north end can stay volunteer since there is not the structures or the popluation or the bussiness up there. if this county stopped all its wasteful spending trying to lure vol’s to the stations we could have more paid pro’s an better fire coverage. Its time to get with the times!!!!!!!!!
I worked the Cantonment area for many years. If you have any question as to what all these guys do for free, I beg you to go hang out around the station for a month and get a good feel for what they really do. I’ve witnessed them doing everything humanly possible to get some one out of a flipped vehicle, bring people back to life at an accident etc.. I personally stood by while they brought a 2 year old child back to life after the child had been under water in a pool for over 40 minutes. When your home is on fire, your neighbor or family member has a heart attack or any other medical issue, you’re quick to pick up the phone and call them for help. But it seems that when the topic comes up that just maybe they deserve a little pay for what they do, people go high and to the right. Government at the County, State and Federal level all waist more money than most residents ever know about. These people save lives, property and give up more personal time than a lot of people ever could imagine. They miss a lot of holidays and other family events due to calls they don’t have to go to, but do because they care about people, property and everything else we all take for granted. Why wouldn’t you expect tension between paid/non paid firefighters when they’re both doing the same job? They all need to be paid for the service they provide. Sure, they will have down time from time to time. But wouldn’t you rather have a crew coming from the station rather than from their paying job to the station and then to you when one of your loved ones are laying in the yard in need of medical treatment that you can’t give them? I say hire a full time [24/7] crew for each station just as all the larger cities around the US have done so they will be there not if you need them, but when you need them. Chief Bingle/Fehl, you have and will always have the support of me and my family. I’ve witnessed both of you in action on many occasions and if I didn’t know any better, neither of you including any crew you’ve ever had with you acted as if it mattered at all if any of you ever received a penny for your services. All of you keep your heads up. There are those of us out there that are very grateful for the service you provide to your community. In closing, pay all of them. They all deserve it regardless as to whether they save one life or a thousand. You all take care and be safe.
Since we have so many experts on here, I fail to see why there are any problems with the fire service in Escambia County.
If you want an active voice, go volunteer or get the training and go paid. If you are a taxpayer I see nothing wrong with you stating your opinion to a point, but the minute you start quoting policy and participation you are getting into an area most know nothing about. FACTS! FACTS! FACTS! Supposition opinions and half truths get things done.
Most of the community has ABSOLUTELY no clue as to what goes on in the departments around here. Most of the opinions on here are based upon a perfect world situation, but guess what there is no such thing!
For everyone bashing the firefighters, you should go to your local fire station and get informed. See what we go through, have to deal with, and what we actually do. This goes for both career and volunteer.
Are there differences, yes. One group focuses solely on the job as a career. The other group has to meet training standards set forth by the state and county, but has another field they work in. Both are held to the same standard of performance and getting the job done. But all of the back stage activity boils down to what the public sees on scene. As long as a truck shows up with a qualified and professional crew of people the general public DOES NOT CARE if they are volunteer or career.
SO, get involved or butt out. Armchair quarterbacking does nothing but cause problems. Public opinion matters, but it should boil down to “YES WE WANT FIRE PROTECTION!”. How you get it falls on the County Commissioners and the County Fire Chief (it’s sorta their job, you elected of them 5 which answer to you, and the Chief answers to them).
By the way, for those of you who are delusional enough to think that you will get more paid firefighters without paying more taxes… well you are just ignorant.. Welcome to real life. But if you want demand it and they are needed they will give it to you. Just don’t whine when they propose a tax increase (like many are now over $10 more a year).
Ask them what will happen if they do not approve the current proposed increase , and how many positions will be eliminated because they took on a bill without guaranteed funds to support it (E619 Safer Grant). If they tell you you have a vote in the matter they are snowing you. Either they get the additional funds or the career side is going to lose jobs. OOPS, did that just slip out?!
Before the residents of escambia county go bad mouthing all volunteers why don’t you look else where other than station 4. No other VFD have problems with volunteers making stipend! Volunteers do have the same training but not always the same experience. Now with getting volunteers certified with fire one its not the departments you need to look at its the county. Many of the problems we see in VFD lies within reply from the county taking their sweet time to respond with paper work
Both the paid and the vols do a great job. Alot of people don’t understand what goes into doing this job and job is what it is. I believe the problem at Cantoment goes back to one person!!!!
When is enough enough with people trying to measure themselves on this topic. Does any one area of this county need pertection over another area. I am truely sick at the bashing of both sides. The fact of the matter is Chief Bingle stepped up and asked for the proper minimum response for the citizens in his community. If you don’t like that get over it! It says a lot about a person being able to ask for help when its need. Protection of his district was and is not being handled so they (the fire chiefs of Cantonment) asked for help. WAY TO GO!!
For the Volunteer fireman who are commenting out of place read your unification plan which was written by your district fire chiefs and agreed upon by the same. If you are complaining about training go and complain to them because they are the ones who set the bar in black and white over five years ago. You have had over five years to becoume compliant with these certifications. If you were too lazy get get them done that is your own fault. Go and cry a river to someone who cares because the community of Cantonment doesn’t. For those people who are wondering about money and equipment and other objects of the fire departments its public record look it up. Why are there fire stations with short staffing that have five, six, or even seven pieces of equipment at them??? Is that so every person who decides to run a call can drive there own fire truck?? Thats real cost effective.
For the record, having observed Chief Bingle for the last 6 years or so, I want to make sure the community of Cantonment knows:
Chief Bingle is a very dedicated and well trained fire chief, who together with Chief Fehl has shown nothing but excellent on scene response and service. Both chiefs have encouraged their members to get educated both in the fire service as well as eductation outside the fire service. Both chiefs have exceptional command knowledge that puts most fire chiefs (including career) to shame. So for anyone claiming this chief ran of firemen, I don’t think so, he was encouraging firemen to get educated, which did not sit well with the ones who do not want to train, study, or become any type of asset to the fire service. Chief Bingle made the right decision based on today’s community involvement and response. Other stations will follow as less and less employers will allow their employees to leave work to respond to an emergency call. As far as the budget is concerned, blame whoever is in charge of the budget, if the blame is to be found in the Fire Administration, or the County Commissioners (thanks alot Kevin White for being an idiot wasting people’s money on unnecessary purchases!!!!!!!!!!), then they need to be held accountable. NOT the citizens of Cantonment or the firemen (career and volunteer). They are trying to do an almost impossible job with a small budget as it is.
Chief Bingle and Chief Fehl I want to thank you as a resident of Cantonment for years and years of dedicated service and self sacrifice.
I have been involved with CVFD since 1986, both as an active member running calls and as a member of the Board of Directors. We went through bad times and good times during all those years. But we always got the job done and done right! Sometimes we had an abundance of members and sometimes we were very short handed. In fact, sometime around 1993 the News Journal did a story on our station because we had such a short crew and managed to get the job done with only 7 or 8 active members that ran all the calls. We accomplished this by having our neighboring departments respond with us when needed. Since we all relied on mutual response, the Fire Association was (and probably still is) much needed. The Chiefs meet once a month to ensure that all 17 fire departments in the county operate in the same manner under the incident command system. If we all operated differently what a mess it would be on scene. We actively recruited volunteers by doing things like setting up tables at the local Walmarts, etc. We also held a firematics competition once a year that always drew big crowds and usually got a lot of interest in the fire departments resulting in applications and more members. Those things all stopped when they started having paid firefighters at some stations. I am acquainted with several paid firefighters and hear both sides of the story. Both have their faults but they need to work together to ensure that the citizens of Escambia County have a safe environment in which to reside. In the past Cantonment was a very family friendly department. We had events for our families like cook outs, etc. That helped to keep our volunteers on our roster. Volunteering takes a lot of time and if you want to keep your volunteers you need to make sure their families feel like a part of the organization and keep them from resenting the time their spouse needs to be at the station for meetings, keeping the trucks up, making sure the station is clean, etc. The trucks and equipment are the tools of your trade and if they are not kept in good shape, you are at more risk. When the family is happy, the volunteer is more likely to stick around. In response to comments about Jeff, he has been at CVFD since some time around 1993. That’s a long time to give to your community and it is a big responsibility to be the Chief. Don’t just criticize him, give him credit where its due also!
Replace Bingle !!!!!!!! Quit putting the problem on the tax payers or on the paid firefighters. Bingle shows up alot and runs alot of calls. But he is not a chief, He is not a leader. It seems funny how the chiefs always say ” If you dont show up I will get a paid crew in here ” Hey chiefs you are the problem, If your people dont show up it is because of lack of leadership at the station level. Its not an issue of paid or volunteer its lack of leadership. If you want to see the real problem is with the volunteers look at the Escasmbia county volunteer ” firefighters ” association thats ran by the fire chiefs.
just wondering: if a volunteer gets injured on the job, does he/she get workmans comp or are the medical bills covered in some way?
To everret.
I’m a paid fireman. I would gladly and with honor give my life or put my self in harms way to save someone. That’s my job. I love my job, every aspect of it. I will gladly do the job for a low salary because I love it. This beef of volunteers do it because they love it and paid guys do it for a check is dumb. I work 3 jobs. Fire an two others. I work firenot for the check but because I love being a fireman. I think paid fireman are the way to go. Not because I hate volunteers. I used to volunteer. I think wse need more for these reasons.
1. They are there all the time
2. Always training, yes volunteers train,but let’s be honest not all the time. Training is the second most important thing we do. You have to know all the roads, all the hydrants, all the business types. Then there’s fire supression, car accidents, med calls, rescue, and many other disciplines.
3. Crew stabilization knowing the ins and outs of the people you work with everyday saves lives
4. All this talk of spending money on new trucks for volunteers is kinda wrong. Fireman put out fires. The old trucks need to be staffed by fireman first
5. Confidence I’m not saying volunteers don’t have it but much is said about your confidence when you are always on the job doing work and always training.
6. We have emts and paramedics. Just because a paramedic volunteers doesn’t mean he can pratice it. Same for emts who volunteer.
7. we love our jobs as paid fireman. I look at it like this. Why do I have to be hated for geting schooled, going to countless classes, and doing stuff on my own tim to be a better fireman and to become a paid fireman.
8. The gripe of not enough classes offered is crazy. For 3 or so years every class you need is offered for free. I work 3 jobs and still managed to get it done without overtime costs to the county.
9. I used to volunteer and loved it then and I love it now even more. I just wanted to get paid doing something I love. Wouldn’t you want the same.
FROM Mark Chestnut: “Why don’t you ask Jeff Bingle how many “qualified” firefighters he has ran off since he became the chief? Station used to have a membership that exceeded 40. More than enough to handle the calls.”
I am one of those that left because of Jeff….thanks for saying what needed to be said. I am glad the ‘chief’ is finally admitting failure.
And for the record, Chief Andy Martin should never have retired.
What arrogance. The “V” in VFD stands for Volunteer. I can see having a paid person around the clock, but not an entire crew. The payrate of $9.45 would only cause most to keep a second job. They couldn’t very respond if they are at their second job.
Why should a volunteer put his or her life on the line when putting out a fire next to a paid fireman. Do you realy think a paid fireman is going put himself in harms way when he can send in some some volunteers?
If they do get this passed you get three guesses on who gets the first two paid spots. Do I need to say more on that.
As far his responsibilities increasing at work, Mr. Bingle should choose one or the other if he can’t find time for both.
The stipnends are for use of your vehicle if you respond to an emercency call. It’s not income (To active volunteer). You should have to provide a receipt for use of the money. What ever is not used should for the month should be given back to the county. This is unaccountable money from the counties taxpayers.
There should be some type of audit or system of accountability for the stipend money.
The population of Cantonment has increased several times. With that there should be folks coming out of the woodwork to volunteer. Why isn’t it happening?
Also don’t use your official vehicles for running personal errands and buying your personal groceries.
Most fire department crews are very good at what they do and are well respected. This in my opinion is an example of just the good old boy arrogance alive and well in this county.
I don’t guess there are other VFD’s in the county that need some more financial help. I haven’t heard any of their chiefs asking for more money.
Life doesn’t revolve around VFD’s. Some folks do it because they really want to help in their communties. Some do it for the rush of the response. Some do it for a sense of self importence. There are few who do it because they can’t do anything else or hold a job for very long. It all makes for a good mix of folks with a common goal in mind
It’s a very small percentage who are actually get paid a good salary and make a good career of it.
Be careful the path and it’s motive you choose in life.
http://www.co.escambia.fl.us/Bureaus/PublicSafety/documents/ECFRUnificationReportFinal040209.pdf
just in case someone want to read it.
Mark you hit the nail and made point. I think the county should reoragnize the department first, before we start spending moneys the county DOES NOT have… If bingle says he doesnt have time because of work. Then its time to step down. Time and response is part of requirments. Lets reorganize first. (601 chief lewis ward Rip.. Will always be 601 )
finally “the truth” has said it all right…….
Reply to State cert….want to make sure you are not confusing my coment with animosity towards volunteers. I am not bashing volunteers, I myself have served in the volunteer ranks for several years and several family members have served on BOTH sides of the line between career/volunteer and are VERY aware of the requirements of both! I want to take no credit away from anyone, but everyone wants to steadily point a finger at one side or the other and no one wants to look at the fact that career/volunteer both have a job to do, and hats of to ANYONE who chooses to do the job with professionalism and learn what is required. I personally understand the time factor completely. Try working 6 days a week, running your calls and doing your training and duties at a volunteer station and going thru a fire academy during the week and every saturday for 6 months. All of this while you still have a family of 5 to take care of. Very time consuming I would say, but very dedicated. If it is trully something that someone wants to do, they will find a way to get it done.
reply to nancy nun:
I agree with quite a few points in your response. I am very proud of my county’s career firefighters and yes they are very very well trained. I am also sick of the career crews getting bashed……but I am also sick of the volunteers getting bashed even harder. Volunteers have spent just as many countless hours and dollars in training, some at the same fire colleges as career firefighters. Is it the view of the public that volunteers have anything but everyone’s safety at the forefront of our minds? I am not saying that a 24/7 crew at Cantonment is a bad thing, the Chief of the station knows his area.
I live in the molino district. we do have a paid crew Monday thru Friday. I believe they leave a 4:00. So I keep the car gased up and the hose handy. God helps those who help themselves. We could use 24/7 crews everywhere. Let’s face it MAYHEM never takes a vacation.
reply to The Truth:
1. to man ONE engine 24/7 takes a minimum of 3 shifts(A, B, and C shifts). Now with pay and benefits to each crew (1 officer and 3 firefighters) it would be approx. $1300 a day. If we place ONE engine in each one of the stations (17 total) that would be around $22,000 a day or $8,000,000 a year just in pay and benefits. Now of course we cant have just ONE engine at each station, some station’s call loads are much higher than others. In that case, the total cost would increase.
2. This has never been proven in Escambia county. The current MSBU (fire tax) is $75 per residential unit and .34 per square foot per commercial unit. At this millage rate the fire service in currently in a deficit ( last I looked it was around $500,000). Is a double in the MSBU millage going to cover the increased cost of daily SAFE operation?
3. The kicker is the last part (and wait for a phone call). Those that have tried to join in different areas of the county never get that phone call. After multiple calls to Fire Admin and even a few trips to the Admin building they eventually get a response. I don’t agree with this practice at all, but I know there are improvements in the works and this is going to be resolved.
4. I looked it up. According to the Escambia County
Fire Services Unification Plan( please Google the plan and read at your leisure), the required training (career and volunteer is the same) is placed in black and white, starting on page 6.
And yes, I have seen a “what if”, scenario very similar to what you describe. But as with everything is the fire service, we can “what if” all day long. On a personal note, according to your scenario, you make all volunteers sound completely inadequate and I take offense to that. What if the paid crew is at the store “just” out of the area or doing prefire planning or testing hose and the call comes in. It would take just as long for the career crew to respond as a volunteer crew. (by the way all of those tasks are also thing the volunteers have to do among many others).
There are pro’s and con’s to all types of fire departments. I think we have what is best for our county at this time.
Hey Jackie…….volunteers have the Same traing as a career firefighter? Not so dear, do the research. B UT, thumbs up to you husband for giving of his time as a volunteer.
I really wish everyone that opens their mouth in a response related to fire and emergency service would get their facts straight! I have nothing against the volunteers many careers have began in the volunteer service. HOWEVER, the fact remains that the Paid crews are very, very well trained. Some at the local level and many others spent countless hours and dollars training at a fire college, such as the florida state fire college.
Anyone can drag a hose and turn a valve. But, there are certain ways to put out a fire, certain ways to fight a fire. It takes proper training to know how to approach and extinguish any fire, and in doing so, keeping everyones safety first and foremost. Trust me, if the entire state went to volunteers, you WOULD know the difference. Quit being so ignorant, God forbid it cost the TAXPAYERS a cent. Yea, our families and personal properties aren’t worth giving up a few more cents of you bingo, or casino money. I hope this doesn”t offend anyone , but I get real sick of listening to people bashing the paid crews. I will gladly pay whatever it takes to have a paid crew 24/7 God bless the cantonment chief for having the nerve and the knowledge to see that a few paid firefighters could be used.
The training issue is not county nor state, it is a safety one. I for one would not want someone who is not prepared to respond to anything, ever since I can remember it has been volunteer, we are just now getting paid crews in our area and the animosity between them is just horrible. The paid are “employees” the volunteer are “not” they both do not receive the same benefits good or bad. The answer will be in the long run is to have staffed full time, but it will cost the taxpayers.
1.) Paid fireman in Escambia make 9.45 an hour at a 24 house and 12 something an hour at a 9 hour house.
2.) The cost of a full county wide 24/7 fire department would cost no more than 200 dollars. This has been proven. In retrospect the City of pensacola’s is about 300+ dollars.
3.) It doesnt take much to get an application to volunteer. Show up, fill it out, and wait for a phone call.
4.) The training for volunteers is much less than career. Proven Fact. Look it up.
To put in perspective. At a volunteer station a call goes out. The tones drop. A kitchen fire at a house right down the block from the station. Some volunteer is at his house when his pager goes off. Finds his keys, puts his fire shirt on, and runs to his car. By this time 4 minutes have passed. Fire doubles in size every minute or so. Dispatch says someone is trapped in a bedroom and cant get out. That volunteer shows up at the station 5 minutes after his pager went off. But he is not certified to drive a 600,000 dollar piece of equipment. So he waits. Finally a second person gets to the fire house and he drives. REMEMBER FIRE DOUBLES IN SIZE IN EVERY MINUTE OR SO. Now this small somewhat easy routine kitchen fire has consumed the livingroom and bathrooms heading down the hallway. The fire engine shows up on scene with two people, who in reality, havent practiced this in a while and are a little rusty. They are dress at the front door ready to go in. But fire has taken over 75 percent of the house and they cant make a push to the bedroom.
Now if there 4 paid fireman at that station at all all times the house would have been saved and a woman alive.
YOU GET WAIT YOU PAY FOR.
Wow what a heated topic. First I must say I am not affiliated with Cantonment FD in any way but I am the wife of a volunteer firefighter, just so you know where I am coming from. Maybe Cantonment does need a full time paid crew, I can not speak to that either way, I do know that if I lived in that area and the fire chief said he thought we needed better fire coverage I would at least want it looked into. As for eliminating volunteers all together, why would anyone think that is a good idea? Volunteers have to have the same training as career fire fighters and they are not paid a salary or any benefits, yes they are paid a small stipend monthly if they meet the call requirements, but they do not do it for the money. And in the long run paying them a small stipend is a lot cheaper then paying a full time crew. Our county is lucky that we have men and women who are willing to volunteer to help their community. I, for one, would not run into a burning building for money, much less for free. All fire fighters are willing to put their life on the line for anther’s life, and for that I am thankful. As for volunteers being tired or weak, I do not think that is the case. As I said before my husband is a volunteer fire fighter and has been for many years, he takes fire fighting very seriously, it is not a hobby for him, it is a job that he does, and he treats it as such. I know that all of the fire fighters from his department feel the same way. To me, it seems silly that we would pay for what we are getting for free. I see merit in having a strong coexisting paid and volunteer fire department.
reply to just sayin…
You are mistaken on the training issue you posted! The State only requires ANY volunteer from chief to firefighter to have the State Firefighter 1 course and nothing else. I agree more is needed to be an officer but if the state says you only need the 250 hrs of training then why does the county require upwards of an extra 800 hrs of training? And don’t give me the “level of quality” line because while there was and is a need for career firemen for COVERAGE in escambia county, the volunteers have always provided a very high level of service to the area and never asked for anything in return. I just wanted to make sure folks know the training is mostly the county and past admins doing and not a “state” requirement. The state knows how vaulable volunteers are and don’t want to run them off by making a VOLUNTEER activity so over bearing people say “thanks but no thanks”. just saying!
reply to b-park:
I am sorry you feel volunteers was too fatigued and unfocused to help our community.
I am not sure if you know, but even the paid firefighters get fatigue just the same as volunteeers. As far as being weak everywhere, I will have to differ with you on that issue. The training required by the volunteer firefighters is the exact same training required by the career firefighters.
I would like to invite you to join us at any one of the volunteer or volunteer/paid station. We would be more than happy to show you some of the things that we do or some of the training we are in currently.
If you would like to pay a $400 a year fee for the illusion of a fire protection team that doesn’t fatigue, be my guest, but talk to the career ranks. Fatigue is part of it. It is not a good point to the all paid effort to imply that career firefighters are never tired or ever lose focus.
B-park does that apply to the crew that has been on duty since 7am and has had no sleep for most of thier 24 hour shift because of calls? What would you suggest they do at thier fourth fire of the shift that is sent out at 3am and they are tired?
great…volunteers work a 10 hour day and then go fight fires- a recipe for disaster. Instead of being strong in one area you’re weak everywhere….we DO need a paid career team that can actually focus instead of being lost in a cloud of fatigue
If any one wants to join a volunteer fire station just go to one they will help you get thru the application process and also help you train for the agility test most of the stations have meetings every monday night at 7 a clock pm
reply to Whats On My Mind:
I completely understand where you are coming from. I have been a volunteer firefighter in Escambia county for the past 18 years. I started the day after I graduated from high school. I worked a full time job and was a full time college student too. I am now 36 and have a fulltime job and a fulltime family life, i.e. wife, 3 kids, house, yard, and on and on.
You are correct. The training takes A LOT of time. I see changes coming in the training scheduling.
The fact of the matter is that volunteer firefighting takes a level of high commitment. It is NOT our fulltime job, but sometimes it takes just as much time. I am not questioning you commitment, but it takes alot.
The other night, I worked a full 10 hr day, got called to a fire 9 pm and didnt get home until 3 am. I had to get up at 5:30 am to work another 10 hr day. I dont complain or brag about this, it is just what I do.
The time conflicts of an inconvient schedule for training is just the beginning, NO ONE schedules an emergency.
What happen was we didn’t have a vote anymore and just anyone walked in the door. And some pople had the worng mind set that’s what happen
Wanted to point out that the training issue is a state requirement not a county one. Also, the firefighter 1 training is or will soon be available online and the county offers a fire academy at no cost to those who wish to participate in it. Aside from thay, everyone thinks the career firefighters cost this county too much money, do you realize their base pay is only around $9.45 an hour? Now that’s gotta be something you do because you love it to choose that as a career.
I work a regular day job and go to school at night…when do i have time to take 250 course hours on the county’s set schedule? I would love to take the class and i completely understand why volunteers need Fire 1 before entering a structure fire, but if our cheifs are course directors why cant we take our time in taking these classes when we can and let our cheifs decide when we are ready? Our Cheif and fellow firefighters aren’t going to let someone who isn’t ready to go in a fire enter a burning building…it’s just not going to happen. In emergency cases like that everyone looks out for each other and they do what needs to be done in the safest way they were TRAINED. If our cheifs and CERTIFIED firefighters cant teach a new volunteer these classes it is almost impossible to get new people into the station.
Some people want to be a career firefighter but dont get hired imediately so they stay in a volunteer station so they can continue to do what they love until their number is called for the career crew. Other people just simply want to help their community but have other priorities like finishing college to pursue their career. The people wanting a career in firefighting can afford to take 6 months of their time going to classes tuesday and thursday night classes for 5 hours and then an 8 hour class every saturday. But the other people who are just trying to help cant do that all at once…so break the damn classes up and let the people take their time going through the Fire 1 class. Make Test at different “check points” in the program and require a high grade to pass and continue to the next section.
“Active Volunteer” I agree with most of what you said but just because people are young and single doesn’t mean they have all the time in the world on their hands. The people pursuing a career in the Fire Department may be willing to sacrifice more time and maybe their current job to take the required classes to become a Career Firefighter and get hired with the county. While other people are volunteering their time to try to make a difference while busting our ass to pay bills and finish school.
I have so much respect for you firefighters that have put in the time at the station and risk your lives for strangers every day. I hope the ones who are looking for a career in the fire department will find it.
In reply to Gus…
Yes the Cantonment station does repond to IP to supplement their emergency response fire and rescue team and their on site fire suppresion systems (hose reels and sprinkler systems). But IP does not have a fire department on site. The Cantonment station was originally organized by Saint Regis to provide fire protection for the plant and its employees that lived next to it (most of the original members were also plant employees).
Why don’t you ask Jeff Bingle how many “qualified” firefighters he has ran off since he became the chief? Station used to have a membership that exceeded 40. More than enough to handle the calls.
At one time I was told that the Cantonment VFD also responded to the paper mill fire calls. Is this still true? As Ascend has their own fire department, does IP have their own fire department?
The paid crews are nessesary for our growth in this county, but that doesn’t mean that the volunteers are not needed as well. The cost of providing 24/7 paid fire protection would be astronomical and I dont think the taxpayers would enjoy a 350 to 400% increase in the fire tax to fund that. The training required for volunteers is quite extensive but it is nessesary to provided quality fire protection. One of the problems I have seen personally is the lack of “interest” of the county fire administration in recruiting volunteers. People that want to help their community are welcomed to the fire service by unanswered voicemail, piles of paperwork, and insufficent numbers of training classes. If I wanted to be a firefighter, the fact that I could never get a response on what steps I had to take to jion would deter me before I ever started. The main problem I see i not a lack of people willing to help, but lack of a system that allows them to start helping.
The stipend program is not the issue, and most of us would do this if it was not even there. The issue is a majority of us having to work two or three jobs to meet the bills, higher training standards (which I think is an excellent idea), and not actively recruiting new firefighters.
If anything the stipend program has allowed some of us to continue on with the department. My wife looks at it as another form of “income” ($300 – $500 a month depending on your rank and participation level) that helps with bills and lets me do what I enjoy at the same time (I was in the department when we met, and she knows I truly love what I do).
Most of your really active firefighters are in the age range of 18 – 24 and single, with little or no family and financial obligations (being a volunteer takes up a lot of time and effort). Some of us older ones have settled into a routine with our families jobs, and can still make some effort to participate.
The biggest issue is there has been a lack of active recruitment for the volunteer ranks, and many of the volunteers that have become experienced and made the effort to get the training have been hired by the county as career firefighters. But when you remove them from the volunteer ranks, and don’t replace them you start running into these kinds of problems.
While the basic firefighting course (Firefighter One) has increased in class hours, it was done so for safety. Most people think of the fire department as being a singularly specialized entity… well they just put out fires right? This used to be the case 15 – 20 years ago. But now the fire department is responding to multiple missions (rescue, medical, hazardous materials, wildfire, disaster response, fire prevention and public education, just to name a few), and new firefighters have to have a basic understanding of all of it before they can even start “serving their community”.
Requirements for becoming a Fire Service Officer have also increased substantially, and again for safety reasons. The people that lead these firefighters (volunteer and career) are putting other people’s lives in their hands with the decisions they make. While some don’t like this, most of us do because we rely on the officers to make split second and difficult decisions when something happens that is out of the norm, or the situation changes suddenly and we need to change our plan of attack.
OK, that is enough from me LOL. I could go one with this for hours. But I do hope they can get the problem resolved as soon as possible for the Cantonment and surrounding communities.
The volunteers do a GREAT job…..but try to juggle a full time job plus the calls….sometimes we don’t see our loved ones much on their off times because the pager for the fire dept. is constantly asking for attention. This past week or two have been pretty busy in our end of the county. Before you start bashing the stipend AND volunteer depts, talk to an active volunteer and see if your opinion stays the same.
Why don’t you ask Jeff Bingle how many “qualified” firefighters he has ran off since he became chief. Station used to have membership exceeding 40. More than enough to handle the calls.
There are numerous reason that the Volunteer firefighters have dwindled down. 1- we now haft to jump through hoops to be able to turn an application in and be accepted 2- the hours for the fire one class have jumped to over 200 and as we are volunteers most of us must work to be able to support our families therefore the classes are hard for us to be able to take 3- The requirements they (county) are placing on us is the same as the paid (which is good on some accepts) 4- Chief Bingle is doing a very good job as he always has there is no reason to bash him on how many calls he is running 5- The “paid” crews have a better than the vollys attitude that causes issues between the two groups that is uncalled for.
There are so many issues that I could hit on but for now chose to just name a few. We do a very good job as volunteers and have just as much training and experience (if not more) that the paid crews and get treated like crude!
Why don’t you ask Jeff Bingle how many “qualified” firefighters he has ran off since he became the chief? Station used to have a membership that exceeded 40. More than enough to handle the calls.
Volunteer firefighters don’t get paid if they don’t go to so many of the calls and some meetings.
Bingle is at the station after work almost every day MR ONE QUESTION. Are You?
I can assure you the reason Cantonment has such few volunteers is because the County Fire group has made being a volunteer very difficult. Hundred of hours are required before you can enter a structure fire if you do they kick you out. All of this is in the name of safety. I was in the department for years before the county took over and we had plenty of training and members.
Residents you had better be on guard, MSBU will soon be over 200 dollars for fire service alone. Since when has the county fire been able to stay within budget?
Unfortunately this seems to be a widespread problem now and it is not isolated to just this fire station. I have heard from many volunteers that most of the stations are shorthanded and just have to make do with what they can.
I remember a few years ago the county starting pushing volunteer recruitment, but other than a few billboards and some short commercials I don’t know if it went any further.
I do know that the training requirements have increased to something like a 250 hour class, and they need to complete it before they can even start fighting fire. I guess that is keeping most people that are interested away.
I agree with “Highercost”. When the volunteers were not paid a stipend we had plenty to show up to calls, now that we are paying them a stipend you cant get any.
Just think just a few years ago everything was good, then we (County) started paying fire fighters and the volunteers left. And the taxpayer is left holding the bill. I knew they would mess up a good thing when the idea of paying a firefighters was started now you can’t get any volunteers. Look out here come another rate hike. This past one was for Ensley and now Cantonment is next. WHY DOES THE GOVERNMENT MESS UP EVERYTHING IT TOUCHES?
It seems that everything is strained to the limit, these days. I wonder where the funds for a full time staff will come from?
Good…..I say we go to an all paid fire department county wide…we are getting too big…and it is harder and harder to find volunteers for any organization much less the fired department…
It is only because this area is grown 10 x times the size it was when I moved here is 1966. My GOD have you see the sub-divisions out here. Don’t blame on the inadequey of the firefighters. They have enough on thier plates to handle.
Cantoment has a pretty good size population to get help from. I wish more people would volunteer there time to help. How many calls does Jeffery Bingle respond too?????