Minutes 10-03-2019 Joint Meeting with Fire Chiefs Council

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