Firefighter volunteering is down nationwide, and Juneau is no exception to the trend.
According to Capital City Fire/Rescue Assistant Chief Travis Mead, this trend is nothing new and it’s something CCFR has had their eye on for roughly the last 10 years.
“Even pre-pandemic, it didn’t matter if you were volunteering for the Boy Scouts of America or volunteering for your local fire department, volunteering is just down in general,” Mead said.
According to Mead, the department did OK through the pandemic and volunteer numbers didn’t drop too drastically, however, they ended up having to hire a lot of volunteers to fulfill the stand-up roles, which only became an issue once they saw applications for new volunteers start to slow down.
“We were doing pretty good, we were taking measures to keep our numbers intact and then along came the pandemic and across the state it devastated a lot of volunteer numbers.” said Mead. “Right now, we have the lowest volunteer numbers that we’ve had within my career here in the last 20 years.”
Typically, Mead said the department averages between 55 to 65 volunteer members, but currently the numbers are about down to the 40-45 range, which Mead said is uncomfortably low.
“The main concern is the number of people we can have on scene for emergencies. That’s my biggest concern, is not being able to bring people in on short notice,” said Mead. “We honestly don’t know why the numbers are down or why we don’t see as many people volunteering other than I still think people are in a kind of pandemic mindset where they want to keep their activities very limited.”
Time could be a factor
Meg Thordason represents the Southeast chapter of the Alaska State Firefighter Association, which is responsible for working with volunteers and heading up recruitment efforts statewide. Thordason has been the Southeast representative for the last two years, as well as serving as the president for the Juneau chapter. She said based on her experiences, she suspects the decline in volunteering might have something to do with employers making it more challenging for those interested in making themselves available.
“I think for a lot of people it’s a matter of time. It’s about how much time you want to put into it, and I think people’s jobs are a factor, their employers don’t necessarily want their employees going off to respond to calls, Thordason said. “I think maybe some employer education would be good, so that they could better understand their employee’s volunteerism.”
Thordason said years ago she had a boss that told her she would need to choose between volunteering with the fire service or her job. She chose to continue volunteering with the fire service.
“I became a volunteer back in 2009 and I’ve loved it the whole time I’ve done it,” said Thordason. “It’s great to give back to your community, it’s such a rewarding opportunity to be a volunteer with Capital City Fire.”
With being a volunteer, Thordason said there’s always something for everyone. No volunteer is ever forced into one position over another, but rather everyone is given the freedom to explore different roles to find what fits them best, for instance, she noted that some people choose just to lend a hand during their various popular community events.
“We’ll do stuff like the hot dog stand and get a big reaction or people show up to help out with the haunted house or the Santa ride,” Thordason said. “There are a lot of community activities that we do that are always a lot of fun and involve all the members and the families, so there’s a lot there. There really is something for everybody, you just gotta find your little niche and figure out what you want to do by trying lots of stuff.”
Thordason and Mead both have been instrumental in the past with making CCFR’s haunted house take place, something that they’re excited to be able to bring back this October after having to shut it down in recent years due to COVID-19.
“It’s definitely needed in the town and it’s really cool,” Mead said. “And we’ve got the perfect, crazy, spooky structure for it at our training center, it’s just meant for it.”
The last time the department was able to host the haunted house, Mead said the four-day event managed to raise over $10,000, however, it’s not just the fundraising aspect that Mead said is important, it’s also a good way of attracting new potential volunteers.
“It’s great because it gets people from the community into the fire training center and they get to see it and we can usually get a few people’s applications at that time, it inspires them,” Mead said.
Traditionally, it’s common for a volunteer to get some sort of reimbursement or stipend for their time, but according to Mead it’s usually minimal. That’s why Mead said within the last four years the department has made an overhaul for their volunteer reimbursement model to where now payment is based on the disciplined level of participation each volunteer performs.
“It’s not out of the realm for one of our volunteers to get reimbursed between $50 and $100 a month based on their performance or their participation per month. Then on top of that there’s a per-call stipend where you get a certain amount per call.”
What volunteers can expect
Mead said they’re just starting to get back to somewhat normal after the pandemic with their handling of volunteer interactions such as drill nights, which take place every Thursday night depending on which aspect you’re volunteering for. The first and third Thursday of the month are typically EMS drills, and the second, fourth and occasional fifth Thursday of the month are fire drills as they’re referred to as by the department. Drills usually start around 6:30 in the evening and typically wrap up around 9 or 10, weather depending.
Mead added that in addition to not requiring a physical agility test of their volunteers, there’s also no requirement to previous experience as everyone is trained in house through CCFR no matter what exactly they’re looking to get involved with.
“If a person comes in and they have zero knowledge for this but they really want to try it, we recommend that they come on as a scene support member and I give them the equipment and the gear and they start going to drills, and we teach them how to help out at a fire scene or an emergency scene and we teach them how to safely do things,’Mead said. “If after that they decide that it’s something they want to really pursue more, then we can do all the rest of the training right here in house; they can get EMT1 certification here, they can get firefighter 1 certification right through CCFR.”
For anyone who is interested in volunteering, Mead recommends that they call and speak to him personally at (907) 586-5322, extension 4325 or he can be reached through his cell phone at (907) 586-0918. Potential volunteers can also access additional information at the fire department’s website through Juneau.org.
A criminal background check is required as well as a driving record along with the application and two letters of reference. From there, candidates are invited to a panel interview, which Mead said allows the department to really get to know the person who wants to volunteer. If after the panel interview it’s recommended that the applicant continue, they’re then linked up with a mentor who helps manage the volunteer members from there.
“It’s been a fantastic career choice for me, and I really recommend it,” Mead said. “I especially recommend it for our local people that are maybe starting out in life and they’re looking for a career, it’s fantastic. I recommend volunteering in general for anybody who has the time, and they want to do something that’s rewarding, it’s just a really great experience.”
• Contact reporter Jonson Kuhn at jonson.kuhn@juneauempire.com.
