When Minister of Municipal Affairs Hector Goudreau releases the fire services advisory report, it had better contain some original, worthwhile incentives to drive up recruitment in the province’s volunteer firefighter halls. Otherwise municipalities might soon find themselves without emergency services altogether.
Declining volunteer rates in firefighting forces have come to the forefront over the last 10 days as the department in the hamlet of Wandering River announced first that it was suspending operations, and then it would resume but only if it didn’t have to deal with accidents on Highway 63 any longer. The Wandering River problem is just one example of a cascading effect that is making finding new firefighting recruits in rural areas even more difficult.
Volunteer firefighting isn’t what it was when grandpa started up 60 years ago or more. Thanks to urbanization, increased highway traffic and industrial development — especially near Fort McMurray — volunteer firefighters aren’t just putting out fires in villages and hamlets or on farms. Increasingly they are dealing with upwards of 20 to 30 vehicle collisions a month on average. More often than not they are sweeping up chemicals and debris or stabilizing patients while waiting for the full-time emergency responders to arrive.
Given the job has few perks, and combining it with the carnage of highway accidents, it is a miracle declining enrolment has not become significant earlier. Alberta’s 119 volunteer fire departments are the responsibility of their respective municipalities. The equipment is often old and sometimes out of date. New equipment requires the department raise its own funds to purchase items like a thermal imaging camera, standard gear for full-time departments but one the Legal volunteer fire department had to raise $10,500 for four years ago. Some municipalities offer stipends to their volunteers while others do not. And to top it all off, while the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) automatically covers several cancers full-time firefighters develop, volunteer firefighters are not covered. The job is hazardous, the hours are horrendous and the drain on a family can be significant. But to those who heed the call, their communities are safer for it.
While municipalities are responsible for firefighting, the province has shown it is more than willing to tear municipal responsibilities away, such as ambulance services. It is time for our government to come up with some meaningful incentives and programs to boost both recruitment and retention. Morinville has set an example across the country by offering high school credits to students who train with the department — a similar model in rural schools throughout Alberta could help alleviate some of the shortfall. Offering more compensation either in the form of a stipend or tax incentives could also help make the prospect of volunteering more attractive. If the province is going to expect more from its volunteer firefighters, then it must offer more to keep them on board or at the very least, bring them to the door.
Those who do volunteer are worthy of recognition, yet community spirit and camaraderie can only offer so much satisfaction when the nature of the position has changed so much. The status quo will simply create more situations similar to what has occurred in Wandering River. The sooner the government can start offering our volunteer firefighters more, the sooner we can expect more volunteers.
