Two volunteers are offended by a report that suggests their jobs could be replaced by career firefighters.
By Joanne Clodfelter
Dayton Daily News
Copyright 2007 Dayton Newspapers, Inc.
KETTERING, Ohio — The Kettering Fire Department has about 40 career, bargaining-unit firefighters staffing Kettering’s fire stations from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The city also has three 24/7 advanced life support units staffed by career firefighters.
Between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m., holidays and weekends, volunteers from a roster of 120 volunteer firefighters respond to calls. During that time, the department is managed by volunteer captains and lieutenants who have been certified by the fire chief.
Kettering’s combination fire department currently requires the volunteers to complete Level I fire fighting training at Sinclair Community College, which is 120 hours, with an additional 16 hours of training per quarter.
The Matrix report recommends the city could save significant costs by hiring paid personnel for 24-hour staffing. The report indicates that the costs for 120 volunteers currently are 7.6 percent of the fire department’s budget, while the 40 career firefighters cost the city almost $4.5 million or 54 percent of the budget.
While the Matrix report indicates that the career firefighters respond, on average, 40 seconds sooner than the volunteers, response times are calculated from the time an apparatus arrives on scene and checks in with dispatch.
Many of the volunteers, who average seven years of service, are community-based responders who go directly to the scene with a vehicle stocked with lifesaving equipment and begin treatment, but do not receive credit for their response time.
The Matrix report states that 87 percent of Kettering’s calls are for emergency medical services; 2.6 percent are in response to fires.
The volunteer firefighters are professionals who work full-time jobs, many of whom have undergraduate and master’s degrees in technical areas, bringing a variety of professional and technical skills to emergency situations.
As fire department volunteers, they receive points for their contributions, and receive stipends which average about $5,000 to $6,000 per year, according to volunteer firefighter Jeff Braun.
“The idea that volunteers are undertrained and underqualified is truly a misconception,” said volunteer firefighter Jason Dodario. “If we were working side by side, you wouldn’t know who was career or volunteer. We hold the exact same certifications. And Kettering volunteers are held to a higher standard than the state of Ohio requires.”
Kettering’s fire department was an all-volunteer force until the 1970s, when the first career firefighters were hired.
Six of the city’s career firefighters live in Kettering; all 120 of the volunteer firefighters are required to live within minutes of their assigned fire station in Kettering.
When residents attend community events, it’s the volunteers who interact with the community at block parties, family fun days at schools, smoke detector battery replacement, fire station open houses and the Holiday at Home parade and festival.
“A lot of people don’t understand what their citizens/ volunteers/neighbors are doing for them,” Braun said.
As members of the community, the volunteers may utilize their skills at work, while out shopping or at the swimming pool.
“I go to work to pay the bills, and I come home and go to work again and give up my family time because I have a passion for this department,” Dodario said.
“If the fire department volunteers are placed in a reserve role, many won’t make the sacrifices they currently make,” Braun said. “We don’t do this just to serve Gatorade on scene or to take somebody’s blood pressure. Dedication may not be as strong as it is. We won’t have specially trained assets roving the community. If someone’s having a heart attack at Town & Country, it’ll just be another guy standing by.”
“We have a legacy of volunteers,” Braun said. “We want the city to involve us as a voice in the department for department policy and operations. We were never sought out for any input.”
In response to the Matrix report, the volunteers put together their own report - with recommendations, which was given to Chief Jim O’Dell and City Manager Mark Schwieterman.
O’Dell, who has served as Kettering police chief for more than two decades, also has taken the helm of the fire department while the city conducts a national search for a new fire chief.
He said he is aware of the friction between the volunteers and the career firefighters. He said that when he referred to the volunteers as “reservists” in a meeting, he was using a police term, and did not mean it in a negative way.
“I think there’s room for both to operate under the same umbrella,” O’Dell said.
“The Matrix study can only be advisory,” O’Dell said. “We can take a piece here and a piece there. It can be a tool, a benchmark that reaffirms what we know, or we can say they’re wrong there or they’re right there.”
O’Dell said they also are taking into account the recommendations made by the volunteers in their report.
“I have the utmost respect for the fire department volunteers,” O’Dell said. “They sacrifice much, and they are very dedicated and loyal. My hope, as the months and years go by, we can return the KFD to its former greatness as one healthy fire organization period.”