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<br /> 1 and people do not come to the volunteer departments. He said there are so many other
<br /> 2 things to do, and the interest is not there to volunteer.
<br /> 3 Jeff Cabe said volunteers get a pager, which is 24/7 and holidays. He said the world
<br /> 4 runs on schedules, and people do not want to come at all hours of the day and night. He said
<br /> 5 those in Carrboro and Chapel Hill get a state pension, and volunteers do not often have the
<br /> 6 energy after working full time to do the work that is needed. He said it is typically the paid
<br /> 7 firefighters that show up. He said everyone is vastly understaffed.
<br /> 8 Pete Hallenback, Efland Fire Chief, said there are also demographic and societal
<br /> 9 changes. He said when he started, employers let people take off time from work to respond.
<br /> 10 He said fewer people are working in Efland, and with longer commutes and increased call
<br /> 11 volume, employers are not willing to be flexible. He said there must be people to respond
<br /> 12 during the day, but people do not want to work somewhere full-time without a pension. He
<br /> 13 said he is worried about the cancer issue, as parents are going to start strongly deterring their
<br /> 14 children from being firefighters.
<br /> 15 Matt Mauzy, SORS Chief, said he can recruit people at UNC to who are considering
<br /> 16 the line of work as a future career, but they are constantly cycling through. He said
<br /> 17 scheduling is a problem, and collaboratively working with other departments can create a
<br /> 18 problem, creating short staff to meet needs. He said long-term rescue positions are very
<br /> 19 difficult to fill, due to other work schedules and employers not letting people be off work to
<br /> 20 assist. He said some of the best people recruits have come from high school, which has
<br /> 21 been positive.
<br /> 22 Commissioner Dorosin asked if there are any solutions, and is it better to have paid
<br /> 23 part-time staff versus permanent staff.
<br /> 24 Tony Blake, White Cross Board of Directors' President, said things are moving in this
<br /> 25 direction, and he has volunteers and part-time staff.
<br /> 26 Brad Harvey, Interim Chief Town of Carrboro, said the idea of offering insurance to
<br /> 27 volunteers would be great. He said the he lowered the hiring age to 19, because people were
<br /> 28 getting lost in the gap between ages 19-21. He said getting people when they are in high
<br /> 29 school is key.
<br /> 30 Tony Blake said he is not asking the Board to pay for the insurance, but having a
<br /> 31 health baseline is critical.
<br /> 32 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the hiring age policy came from somewhere
<br /> 33 specific.
<br /> 34 Brad Harvey, Town of Carrboro, said it was an internal policy, and he had to lower it to
<br /> 35 19, and decided to take a chance to line people up early before they are lost.
<br /> 36 Matt Sullivan said 18 is the minimum age, and maturity can be a problem. He said a
<br /> 37 great deal of training and mentoring is needed, but it has been positive so far.
<br /> 38 Ralph McDonald said this has been a problem with rural areas, and if paid firefighters
<br /> 39 are employed 24/7, then volunteers are lost. He said volunteers lose interest if they cannot
<br /> 40 ride on the truck for a call.
<br /> 41 Charles Bowden, New Hope Fire Chief, said it has changed guidelines for how far
<br /> 42 away from the station people can live. He said the average house size is now is 3,000 square
<br /> 43 feet, which is a growing risk. He said part of the fix is allowing people to stay at the fire
<br /> 44 station, but, if there is no truck, people do not show up.
<br /> 45 Brad Allison, Caldwell Fire Chief, said Caldwell is blessed to have a lot of volunteers,
<br /> 46 but the volunteers do not want paid staff at the station. He said it is a different environment
<br /> 47 now, but he excited about the high school academies.
<br /> 48 Chair Rich asked if there is a point at which this becomes critical, and if it will affect
<br /> 49 the safety of the residents if there are not enough people to fight the fire.
<br /> 50 Brad Allison, Caldwell Fire Chief said there must be adequate certified personnel on
<br /> 51 the roster to even keep the doors open. He said Orange County is in good shape, but it is
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