By Andy McKeever
The Bennington Banner
BENNINGTON, Vt. — Local volunteer firefighters leave work or their families almost everyday to respond to emergencies while receiving little in return. Offering financial incentives is often difficult to fit into a town’s budget, but the federal and state governments are looking to help.
“We’re not having trouble keeping members; it’s recruiting new members,” said Brian Billert, chief of the Bennington Fire Department, on Wednesday. “It’s a big commitment.”
Billert said that one of the reasons people are not joining is because of a required course. The course, he said, is a state requirement and takes 150 hours to complete.
Jerrod Lillie, chief of the Pownal Valley Fire Department, said that in his 23-years of services it has become more difficult to recruit members, partly due to the state requirements.
150 hours of training
“You get a new member but then you tell them how many hours (of training) and it turns them away,” said Lillie. “People’s lifestyles seem so much fuller now. They got a lot going on.”
To counteract the requirements, Lillie said he began offering positions classified as “support services.” This role would be for people who are willing to volunteer by directing traffic or providing refreshments to firefighters instead of attending the class to be certified as a firefighter.
Michael King, chief of the Arlington Fire Department, proposed a possible incentive program to the Arlington Select Board this week.
“We’re not getting any new members,” said King.
He said that other towns have incorporated incentives, such as giving firemen anywhere for $5 to $25 per call or tax breaks. Members of the Arlington Fire Department said that health insurance would be a good bonus for their work, according to King.
Billert said that although incentives would help, town budgets would not be able to support that type of system.
Lillie said on Thursday that even when he was a child, incentive programs were proposed. Ideas such as property tax benefits or free access to the town dump were suggested, but those benefits did not apply to all of the members.
“Way back when I was a kid they’ve talked about it but you never can come up with a true solution,” said Lillie.
Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, R-Essex-Orleans, said on Wednesday that he is working with Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington, on a bill that could provide new and existing firefighters with a small life insurance policy or a stipend toward a retirement fund.
“Dick (Sears) and I are putting together a bill with incentives to attract and retain their services,” said Illuzzi. “We have to do all we can, within our means, to keep our fire departments volunteer.”
Illuzzi said that if the state of Vermont required towns to hire firefighters, property taxes would skyrocket.
Illuzzi also suggested that if fire departments charged user fees to the resident they serve, money from that could go to support the firefighters. Homeowner insurance, he said, usually covers the user fees.
“We’re paying for it, but a lot of departments are not charging,” he said.
Recently, legislators passed bills that would make towns responsible for compensation for heart attacks and cancer caused by fires. If a firefighter has a heart attack within 72 hours of fighting a fire, the town, as employer, would be held accountable for compensation. According to Illuzzi, many homes are now built with a lot more cancer causing materials, such as plastics, which is the reason for adding a bill for cancer compensation.
On the federal level officials are also kicking around ideas about how to help volunteer firefighters. Multiple bills have been introduced in Congress, some of which included tax benefits. One of which introduced in May 2006 by Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Pa., could provide a $1,500 tax credit to volunteer firefighters who served for eight or more years and $1,000 credit for members who served three or more.
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