Two Westmoreland County volunteer fire departments are looking at how they can continue offering a stipend to firefighters who staff the respective stations after grant funding runs out.
Officials at both stations — Rostraver Central and Southwest Greensburg — said their response time has improved by a minute or more as a result of having someone on duty, a move that could become more widespread as volunteer departments continue to struggle with recruiting and retaining members.
“It’s really been essentially like we have a paid on-duty fire department for a bargain price,” said Justin Shawley, deputy fire chief at Rostraver Central. “This is the way things really need to go, more towards some sort of staffing model in order for fire protection to be adequately delivered.”
A stipend system should be examined as an option, Southwest Greensburg Fire Chief Bill Wright Jr. said.
“We’re showing that it works,” he said.
The number of firefighters in Pennsylvania is dwindling — in the 1970s, there were about 300,000 firefighters. Now, 37,000 suit up every day, according to the Office of the State Fire Commissioner. Volunteer stations have been upping their recruitment and retention initiatives, with some offering grant-supported incentives such as a stipend per call, tuition assistance and free gear for new recruits.
Rostraver Central and Southwest Greensburg were awarded separate grants through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response program. A $4.3 million grant through the program administered by Hempfield to 60 of the county’s 83 fire departments resulted in more than 470 new firefighters. That grant ended in 2022.
Departments that receive the grant can tailor how they use the funding to fit their specific needs, focusing on what opportunities might work best in their area.
Officials at Rostraver Central and Southwest Greensburg looked at the times of day when they had the fewest volunteers available to respond to calls in determining when staffing their stations might be advantageous.
Southwest Greensburg volunteers can pick up four- or eight-hour shifts around the clock. Wright said the station hasn’t been fully staffed during the two years the program has been running, but volunteers have been fitting in shifts regularly around their work and family obligations.
“These (firefighters) sacrifice so much,” he said. “Basically, they’re working another full-time job for peanuts.”
One of them is deputy chief and retiree Ed Milliron. He’s been a firefighter for 40 years and would often find himself at the station before the stipend program started. Now he picks up some extra cash for being there four days a week.
“It’s a huge plus for the community,” he said.
Southwest Greensburg firefighters responded to 1,260 calls in 2023, Wright said, with 41 active members. Their SAFER grant is $405,000 and expires in November 2025.
Rostraver’s volunteers have been able to select weekday, daylight shifts for the past eight months.
“There’s been a good amount of interest,” Shawley said. “It really makes a difference having someone in the station, having someone who can get out on the streets.”
Rostraver Central has 40 members, including 15 to 20 who are active and respond to between 550 to 600 calls annually. Their SAFER grant is $395,000 and must be spent by June 2027.
The volunteers who pick up shifts at the stations stay on top of maintenance of trucks and equipment or do work in the community. Neither Wright nor Shawley would disclose the amount firefighters get through the stipend for staying at the station.
Youngwood volunteer firefighters can get a $50 per shift stipend for being at the station for eight hours, Chief Lloyd Crago said. It’s been a casual program for the last few years he said is paid through fundraisers.
“Some weeks we don’t have anybody, but some days we do,” he said. “It’s just a little extra incentive to keep people and bring more in.”
Hempfield set aside $81,000 in its 2024 budget to potentially hire four part-timers for the volunteer department to drive trucks to calls during daylight hours. Supervisors will have to vote to advertise the positions before the plan could move forward.
Jeannette has two paid firefighters at the station 24 hours a day — one full-time career firefighter and a second call firefighter, a volunteer who lives in the city, who is paid between $8.25 and $12 per hour, based on their duties. Jeannette has the county’s only paid full-time fire department.
Officials at Rostraver Central and Southwest Greensburg said they’re discussing ways to keep their respective programs going after the funding is gone. It’s something neither station would have been able to afford without the grant, but neither wants it to end.
“We need to make it work going forward,” Wright said. “We need to keep the bar high, we don’t want to lower it.”
Maybe some type of hybrid model — with firefighters receiving compensation to be at the station but supported by volunteers — is the answer, Shawley said. But he thinks something needs to change with how community fire protection works now.
“It’s a broken system,” he said. “It’s really not the way to deliver this type of service in a municipality today.”
Article Via TribLive