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Escambia Looks To Increase Volunteer Response, Staff Some Stations With Career Firefighters
April 24, 2015
Change is coming to fire services in Escambia County, but exactly what those charges are remain to be seen.
For the past few weeks, the firefighter’s union, the volunteers and county administration have held a series of meetings working to solve a few undeniable facts– some emergency calls for help are not being answered, the number of volunteers is decreasing, volunteers say the county has made the process to becoming a volunteer firefighter too difficult, and the county can simply can’t afford to do without volunteers and replace them with all-paid fighters. The estimated cost to staff one fire station with 24/7 paid firefighters has been estimated to be $750,000.
The county has already taken steps to remove some of the barriers to becoming a certified volunteer firefighter, according to Administrator Jack Brown. The county is now starting to accept state-approved online firefighter courses, allowing volunteers to complete the classes on their own schedule. They will still be required to received hands-on type experience. He said required classes will be conducted at times that volunteers can attend, and make-up classes will be available.
Commission Chairman Steven Barry said that changes are coming to the physical agility tests for volunteers. It won’t be made any easier to pass the demanding exam, there will just be additional opportunities to complete the physical agility tests after technique is learned.
“The intent is never to get rid of the volunteers,” Brown said. “We need volunteers. We need full-time firefighters both working together.”
“One team, one fight, one mission – that’s the theme ” Commissioner Doug Underhill said. “I would hope to think that I’ve heard for the last time a volunteer firefighter saying something about the professionals, and that I have seen and read for the last time a statement from the professional firefighters negative about their reserve brethren. We’ve got to move beyond that.”
Underhill said he would not be against a possible MSBU raise if that’s what it take to improve fire services.
“It’s definitely not from the lack of trying or disregard for the public. There simply just aren’t not enough volunteers to handle the call volume in the county, Nick Gradia, president of the firefighter’s union said Thursday. “There are many reasons that volunteer numbers have dropped over the years. And, unfortunately, there does not seem to be a massive increase on the horizon. Our goal is to ensure the stations in the south end of the county have qualified personnel that can respond with a fire truck when called.”
“There never has been and never will be a guarantee that your closest neighborhood station will be the one coming to you every single time,” Gradia said. “However, we should guarantee that your neighborhood station has a qualified crew available to respond at all times, providing the greatest level of service possible. Volunteerism in this county is a longstanding tradition and it will never be the goal of my organization to replace or tarnish those traditions.”
Placing the qualified career personnel in the remainder of the south-end stations is necessary to meet public safety needs,” Gradia concluded.
The county commission also heard from the volunteer side.
“If you’re willing as a commission to change the way we’ve done business for the last eight years, where we can all come together and work toward a common solution, I think that we can achieve what we all want which is a greater public safety arena for the people of this county. That’s all we’ve ever wanted; that’s all we’ve every pushed for…We don’t wish to be career firemen,” Beau Rodrique, spokesman for the volunteer’s association told the commission. “If you simplify the system, you will see a stronger service. But you have to let volunteers take care of volunteers.”
“Our one common goal needs to be public safety,” Rodrique said. “If we can do it without raising taxes I think we owe, y’all owe to the county taxpayers, to exhaust all options of how we can do that without raising taxes. And we can do it.”
“My goal is what I heard today, let’s make sure we do everything we can do, as even the career firefighters have stated,” Commissioner Wilson Robertson said. “We need volunteers…one working unit that works together and both sides are treated fairly, and with all respect, and that our administration needs to make sure we do everything we can do to promote, recruit and retain the volunteers.”
“This county cannot afford a fully paid fire department throughout the entire county, ” Robertson said. “We’ve got to have volunteers.”
“We are going to make sure that we are safe, that our neighborhoods are safe, and that we have people that can respond,” Commissioner Grover Robinson said. “We are going to have to look at changes in the way we do business to make it easier for recruitment.”
The Escambia County Commission is expected to consider a written fire services plan at their May 7 meeting.
Pictured: Volunteer firefighters battle a full-involved house fire on Highway 97 in Davisville last November. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
11 Responses to “Escambia Looks To Increase Volunteer Response, Staff Some Stations With Career Firefighters”
The comments here that imply that firefighters should stay locked up in the fire station until they get an alarm show ignorance of the nature of their job’s on the part of some people. What looks like riding around in the fire engine is actually firefighters making an effort to better learn their response area so that they can make quicker responses to YOU when you are in need. What looks like firefighters sitting idle in a restaurant is usually the result of the firefighters being forced to eat out because they have been busy all day, and didn’t have time to cook. To the naysayers; how many times have you seen the firefighters leave a half eaten meal on the table because they had to respond to YOUR emergency? Wouldn’t you rather inexperienced drivers learn to safely handle the big, heavy trucks in non-emergency situations than while responding to YOUR emergency?
I wonder if the County commissioners lived out here for a few months if they would give this more consideration? Our volunteer firemen do a great job and have great response time. I would like to see them recognized for all they do out here….not just fires but response time to accidents and injuries. They are often the first ones there to provide aid to accident victims and make sure a vehicle does not catch fire (or put one out). My thanks to each one of them for taking their time and putting their lives at risk to help others!!!
Our firemen both full time and volunteer do a great job, at least in the north end. Don’t know anything about the south end.
I have been a volunteer and career firefighter all for Escambia County. The union does push for more firefighters. Because the need for more manpower to work safer. Engine companies that should be staffed with 4 firefighters have been reduced to having to work with 3 firefighters so you could provide more coverage in other areas. I have been on the engine with only 3 firefighters and there are a lot of things that you are limited too doing. Interior fire attack and search is one very important lifesaving function that you are limited to do with only 3 firefighters, because of the two in two out rule. You simply can’t have two in and two out with only 3 firefighters. So you have to wait for additional help to arrive before attempting to make entry. So don’t be so quick to judge unless you have walked a mile in my boots. I fully support a tax increase to provide the necessary protection needed and the manpower to be able to work safer. Volunteer or paid they are all professionals.
If you had a choice, would you pick a “volunteer physician” or a “professional physician”? They are both trained to perform the same duties, held to the same expectations of service by the public. Basically the only difference is one does not rely on it as their primary source of income.
If you want a cohesive department, start with using both correct and respectful terminology for the firefighters that are protecting their communities.
“…a volunteer firefighter saying something about the professionals…”
Mr. Underhill (and the rest of the commisoners) you have career personnel and volunteer personnel they are both professionals.
Referring to one with the title of “professional” would be indicative that the volunteers do not know what they are doing, and that sir is not the case. Show them the respect they have earned. Can some of the vounteer staff do better or act/dress more professionally, yes they could (but so could some of the career staff).
Has it been the agenda of the fire fighters “union” to have all paid fire fighters?
Bet it was. Since the tax payers are FORCED to pay for the union, lets have a county wide vote and see just where the “union” stands with the tax payer. I bet he union would lose.
Has anyone taken the time to do statistics on how many houses are destroyed when the paid crews arrive or the response time as compared to the volunteers? People would be amazed. I see them eating at places way out of their district considering they have kitchens in every fire station. We have family in many other states and all they have are volunteer fire departments from California to South Florida and north to Pennsylvania. Our MSBU doesn’t need to be raised in order to pay for these kind of services. Make a meal at the fire station or make a meal at home and use the microwave this would save on gas. I worked at Century Hospital for over 8 years which was County owned and under the Escambia County Commissioners, we were not allowed to leave for meals, we either ate from the cafeteria or carried our meal from home. Each and everyone of us survived. I understand fire departments are called out to house fires, wrecks and public assist and I believe all do a good job, but monies could be cut in other areas and still proved good service. One thing if you are more in your fire station then you are in your DISTRICT. I’ve made many of a meal for my husband to take to work and still do. I like the way Mr. Underhill presented his side Paid and Volunteers need to work together for this county and be Proud of it. Thanks Mr. Underhill.
It’s simple, make the volunteer process more streamlined and they will come! Regardless what they say the union has an agenda or they wouldn’t exist!
Mr. Underhill, if you really want to resolve the issues, pay all of them. Try and imagine the savings on insurance for the citizens, the jobs it creates for the county, the influence it would have on a family considering a move to Esc’ Co’ and of course, the lack of issues between paid firefighters vs. not paid. You can’t expect there not to be problems when you have one group of employees not being paid and the other group being paid and both working out of the same building doing the same job. I knew when the county first went with the above it was going to be a problem. These men and women do a job a lot of people either refuse to do or just plain out can’t handle the stress that comes with the job. There are areas within your current budget that could fund such action and I really don’t think in the future you would have a problem with citizens understanding a small tax increase to cont’ funding them. With that being said, citizens would expect their tax dollars to be spent on the improvements for the entire county and not just certain Commissioners District. I worked in the county system for just about 25 years and can verify the fact that money is wasted daily. An example would be the county pays 20.00 for a box of pens and you can go to Wal-Mart and buy the same pens for 6.00. Beats all I’ve ever seen. Good luck to all the men and women that put their lives on the line to provide a service for people they don’t even know. Mike
If Pensacola wants more paid firefighters let the people in Pensacola pay for them. We all know those of us in the north end will pay but not receive, as usual.
Anyone familiar with the fire service around here will tell that this “understaffed” problem has been going on for years now. That is the reason why there are career staffs in escambia county today, to assist volunteers with the call loads. county fire administration and officials knew about this problem but waited until all hell broke loose to fix it. Participation has been on the decline for various reasons that are out of the volunteer’s control. If any remembers, cantonment’s former fire chief was on channel 3 news about 4 years ago talking about how his station was understaffed. it took almost 2 years before a solution to that problem was addressed. It is a shame that it took a lost of property and a threat to people’s lives before this issue was taken seriously