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By BRANDON KEAT
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
A bill to be introduced Thursday would provide tax breaks to volunteer firefighters and a potential boost to companies struggling to fill dwindling ranks.
The legislation would give volunteers with at least three years of experience a $1,000 annual tax credit. Those with eight years or more would get a $1,500 annual break.
Firefighters say the help is badly needed. Increased work demands and more stringent state training requirements are among the factors that have dragged down the number of volunteers. There are 72,000 volunteers in Pennsylvania, compared to 300,000 three decades ago.
“In today’s day and age, unfortunately, volunteerism is by the wayside,” said 37-year veteran Richard Wagner of the Highland Fire Department in McCandless.
U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart appeared at the Peebles District Volunteer Fire Department in McCandless Friday to announce the legislation.
Hart now will begin looking for cosponsors for the bill and she said there is about a 50-50 chance it could come up for a vote before the end of the year.
“We’ve been waiting for something like this for some time,” Wagner said. “I think it might help to recruit some people because we are hurting. ... It entices people to think; $1,000 is $1,000.”
Volunteer firefighters are required to complete 140 hours of training to get state certification, up from about 40 hours nearly 30 years ago. The growing demands make it difficult to attract and keep firefighters, Peebles Capt. Paul Wain said.
“We’re trying to use volunteers for what is a profession,” Wagner said. “People are busy and have too many things to do.”
He hopes Hart’s bill makes a difference.
“Sometimes you just need to entice people into the door,” Wain said. “Once you try it, it gets into your blood.”
Hart said finding lawmakers to support the bill shouldn’t be difficult.
“It’s not one of those thing’s that’s going to be controversial,” she said. “It matters to everybody that we have a good, strong volunteer fire service.”
No state has as many volunteer companies as Pennsylvania: 96 percent of the state’s 2,448 companies are all volunteer, compared to 73 percent nationally.
Firefighters say there are other ways the government could help rebuild the ranks of volunteer fire companies.
Wain suggested providing health care to firefighters’ families and pensions for firefighters.
Ann Kinzler, of the Marshall Township Volunteer Fire Department, suggested to Hart that another problem facing fire companies is an unwillingness on the part of many employers to let workers leave work to respond to calls. She suggested the government could help there, as well.
“Employers are not going to agree to do that unless they have some kind of tax credit,” Kinzler said.