Thu. Jan 29th 2009
BY JIM PENNA
When a small township or borough can no longer afford police patrols, they turn to the Pennsylvania State Police for protection.
There is no such Plan B when it comes to fire protection, however, and unless things improve, the region and the state risk the collapse of the volunteer fire service, which would require billions of tax dollars to replace.
“To replace the volunteer system as we have it now, I don’t think people really understand the value they are getting,” state Fire Marshal Ed Mann said. “The number that is thrown around ... is $6 billion. Even with $6 billion, though, I don’t know if you would get the same level of service.”
Tight financial times are not new for volunteer fire companies. Fish fries, bingo games and submarine-sandwich sales have long been among the ways community departments have made ends meet.
But the economic downturn presents challenges that are creating burning money matters for the more than 2,400 volunteer companies statewide, Mann said.
“Maybe people spend a little less here or there and one way they cut costs is (not playing) bingo,” Mann said.
“Maybe they skip the firemen’s chicken dinner they have always gone to. Maybe some of the guys who have always worked these fundraisers have taken on second jobs because they have their own financial problems, so you are less able to pull off these kinds of fundraisers. The worst may be yet to come.”
The state funds volunteer departments through a number of means, which total more than $150 million of support.
Given the $6 billion of services these departments provide, that is a real bargain.
But there are some areas that are getting an even sweeter deal.
“You have a lot of situations where you have a department in one municipality, and ... they have responded for years to areas that have no coverage,” Mann said. “But the second municipality pays nothing. Essentially, they get a free service, and in many cases they take it for granted.”
The lean financial times may mean small departments stop covering such areas, and municipalities that do fund their volunteer services may start to ask neighboring communities to start paying part of the tab. It is a price they should be willing to pay, but that may not be enough.
There are 47 volunteer fire companies in Cambria County, and they all get a different level of funding from their local governments.
The only expense required by law is to pay the fire companies’ workers compensation, and for many that is all the help they get.
Local governments need to start working together to offer more financial support and to spread the expenses a bit more evenly.
Fire departments are reluctant to consolidate, but at the very least they should coordinate equipment and services.
As a reporter, I covered more structure fires than I can recall, and no one works better in the field when lives are on the line than firefighters. It is time for that level of cooperation and coordination to make its way to the budget process.
Mann estimates that nearly half the state’s volunteer companies are in serious financial trouble. If even just half of that half collapses, there would be a cascade effect that would ultimately drag down more departments.
It is time we all start to better respect the value of such fire protection.
In the meantime, the rest of us need to support our elected leaders when they choose to support fire companies.
As for skipping that fish fry, chicken barbecue or spaghetti dinner to save a buck, ask yourself if swallowing a $6 billion tax hike would taste better?
Jim Penna is a former news director at Fox 8 and WATM-ABC.
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