BAWLF, Alta. – If Rod Blatz had a wish, he’d ask for two more volunteer firefighters.
The Bawlf fire chief has 12 firefighters on his call list.
“Fourteen would be ideal,” said Blatz, who has been fire chief for 10 years and a volunteer firefighter for 22 years.
The volunteer fire department in the small town of Bawlf in central Alberta has the same problem as others across the province. It is increasingly difficult to attract people willing to give up weekends, evenings and often nights to fight fires or clean up after car accidents and hazardous goods spills.
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“It’s tough to find people to take that role any more,” said Blatz who eyes up every person who moves to town as a possible firefighter.
While people are willing to do the work of a professional without getting paid, it’s often the time commitment that turns off volunteers, he said.
The initial 40-hour training takes two full weekends to complete. Fire crews get together monthly or sometimes weekly to go through protocol, work with equipment and hold practice drills.
“It’s a huge commitment to become a volunteer firefighter,” said Pat Graham, Alberta Municipal Affair’s fire commissioner.
More than 80 percent of the pro-vince’s 460 fire departments are volunteer. They can range from small rural ones to city departments with more than 100 volunteers.
Graham estimates fighting fires makes up only 10 to 20 percent of a fire department’s responsibility.
“Back in the good old days it was a fire department. They didn’t have the extra duties,” said Graham, of Edmonton.
Now, firefighters spend much of their time cleaning up after road accidents and dangerous spills, as well as playing a larger role in public education and prevention.
“The demands are much greater than they were a number of years ago and they will continue to be that way as our society evolves. Heap on top of that Sept. 11.”
In response to the terrorist attacks in the United States and the continued anthrax scares, Graham sent a 12-page bioterrorism booklet from Alberta’s Disaster Services Branch to each fire department to keep it up to date with provincial protocol.
It was while going through that booklet that some volunteers in the Iron River Volunteer Fire Department in northeastern Alberta began to question their decision to be involved in the fire department, said Iron River fire chief Gordon Graves.
They hadn’t signed on to be in the front line of a bioterrorist threat.
Luckily, one of the volunteers was an ex-military person and allayed a lot of the fears, said Graves. But a lingering question of the unknown
remains.
When firefighters are called to a dangerous goods spill, there is usually a four digit number on the side of the truck or train in bold letters identifying what’s in the vehicle. The firefighters’ hazardous goods book will determine the product and how to deal with it.
“When there’s a placard on the vehicle you know your distances. When you’re dealing with an unknown, you don’t know the safe distances,” said Graves.
After discussing concerns at a meeting, the volunteers felt more comfortable with the information and no one left the crew.
Graham said the intent of the booklet wasn’t to scare the volunteers, but to help the department develop policy and procedures.
Most small, rural fire departments are not equipped to handle terrorism attacks. The provincial protocol says to call in the next agency that’s capable of handling the situation.
“No one’s expecting people to run in and do things they’re not capable of doing,” said Graham.
Most provincial fire volunteers are rewarded for their commitment with a yearly dinner, a jacket, a ball cap or some small token.
This year at Iron River, 12 of the core group will be awarded a wristwatch engraved with the Iron River Fire Department logo and a stainless steel thermos, together worth about $100.
“It’s a serious appreciation for what they’ve done,” said Graves, whose crew each year votes to throw all the money the department receives from the Regional Fire Authority into a pot rather than getting paid for their time.
In Iron River the fire department is like a rural Rotary or Kinsmen club. Extra money above fire equipment expenses is given to the local school for playground equipment, an air ambulance, Alberta Burn Rehabilitation, an annual firefighter’s dinner and community functions throughout the year.
“If there is a legitimate need, we’ll support it,” said Graves.
This year they also sent $247 to the New York Fire Department to help in disaster relief.
Next door, the La Corey Volunteer Fire Department has chosen to pay volunteers.
The Regional Fire Authority pays the fire department $13 an hour for firefighters and more for the fire chief’s time.
La Corey used to have an annual fireman’s ball to celebrate its work, said fire chief Ulla Hansen, one of the few women fire chiefs in the province.
A few years ago they voted to pay the firefighters $11 an hour for time at the fire and keep $2 in the kitty for group events.
“You’re talking the same core group making the money and twice as many at the ball,” said Hansen.
Paying the volunteers a nominal amount for gas money works for their department, said Hansen, but they still don’t have extra volunteers.
“It has been very difficult finding volunteers. We’re very fortunate to have a good core group,” said Hansen, who counts on 10 to 12 people at their meeting each month.
“Now that it’s a good group, they seem to be sticking around.”
Unlike Iron River, which is made up of mainly local farmers, La Corey’s group is a mixture of acreage owners, farmers and oilfield workers. If the oil industry is stable, the fire crew tends to be stable.
But for most of the volunteers, their paid work gets priority. They’ll come to a fire if they’re off work, but they can’t afford to give up work.
“You can’t expect the young people to give up their job to fight fire for $11 an hour,” said Hansen.
But some employers are flexible.
Blatz is a Battle River School Division bus driver and if he gets called out to a fire, the school division will pay his salary and pay for a spare driver.
For most fires a couple of hours callout is typical. But in the mid-1980s, three of Bawlf’s grain elevators burned down and Blatz was at the fire for two days putting out spot fires up and down the highway.
To help some volunteer fire departments, Graham’s office offset the cost of training by subsidizing the Alberta Fire Training School in Vermilion. It also gives out grants for municipalities to create master planning for fire assistance and offers departments help to become more organized and efficient.
But in the end the departments rely on volunteers who give more time than they get back in pay or recognition, said Graham.
“Generally speaking volunteers are just that. Their time is given for free.”
