A cadet firefighter learns how to operate a dump valve on Auburn Fire Department's tanker truck during a training exercise. Auburn Fire Department photo
The fire service has faced many challenges in recent years.
When a call comes in, firefighters drop whatever they’re doing — whether they’re at the station, at home or at a family function — to help someone in need.
While emergency responders are a must, unfortunately, not everyone has the time or the interest to do it.
That’s where all-volunteer departments can struggle. Likewise, career departments are always looking for people interested to serve.
Regardless of the department, many have explored ways to find people to answer the call.
In Northeast Indiana, some departments are comprised entirely of volunteers while others are made up solely of career firefighters who work 24-hour shifts at the station.
In between, some departments are shifting to a combination model, with volunteers as well as paid personnel. Some career firefighters spend their off days working part-time shifts in those departments.
Albion and Butler are examples of departments that have both volunteers as well as paid, part-time firefighters.
Albion has 36 volunteers and four paid, part-time firefighters. The part-time firefighters work evening shifts, according to Fire Chief Bob Amber. One paid part-time firefighter is on duty at a time as their schedules allow.
“My goal, whether it’s one year or five years out, is to have more part-time employees that are here during the daytime hours. We, like every other fire department in our area, are hurting for help,” he said.
Amber said he is at the station three or four days per week, usually by himself. If a call comes during the daytime, he and maybe a couple of other firefighters can respond, but they have to leave their place of employment or get out of bed if they work a nighttime job.
“I’d really love to have at least two, maybe three people here every day of the week,” Amber stated. “Ultimately, the goal is to get that fire truck out the door quicker.”
In 2022, Albion firefighters responded to 512 calls for service, the most in Amber’s five years with the department. As of Aug. 16, there have been 311 calls.
While most departments actually respond to fewer fires, most calls are to assist medical personnel. With many departments limited in personnel able to respond during daytime hours, mutual aid calls are also frequent.
Albion’s territory includes Chain O'Lakes State Park, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors. The department’s response territory is more than 90 square miles.
In addition to its volunteers, Butler has seven paid, part-time firefighters. Earlier this year, the Butler/Wilmington Fire Territory’s board and Butler City Council approved hiring two full-time firefighters.
Auburn’s fire department is comprised of 21 paid, career firefighters and four chief officers, Fire Chief Doug Cox explained.
At any one time, six to seven career firefighters are on duty for 24-hour shifts, with four at one station and three at the other. After their shifts, career firefighters have 48 hours off before they are on duty again.
Chief officers work 40-hour weeks from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the week. The five part-time firefighters work as their schedules permit, Cox said. Part-time firefighters are on duty for 12 hours at a time, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. or 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
“Each day, we can guarantee that we’re going to have six firefighters and at least two chief officers,” Cox explained.
While Auburn no longer has volunteers, it has a cadet firefighter program that is open to men and women who are at least 15 years of age.
“They train along with some of our firefighters,” Cox said. “They conduct training classes specific to firefighting that career and volunteer firefighters do for their certification.
“The only thing they don’t get out of the cadet program is a certification.”
Two of Auburn’s career firefighters are graduates of the cadet program. Other graduates have become volunteers at Butler, Corunna and Garrett, Cox said.
What the cadet program does is give interested people some exposure to the fire service before they join a department.
“They find out real quick whether they liked it or didn’t like it without joining a fire department and going through the training to become a volunteer,” Cox explained.
Initially, the cadet program served youth in high school, but when Auburn discontinued its volunteer program, it found there still were people with an interest in serving. That resulted in eliminating the upper age limit.
“We found that when we stopped our volunteer service, we still had people coming in asking to volunteer but we didn’t have that avenue for them. That’s when we opened up our cadet program to any age over that, so you could be over 18 and still be part of it.
“If somebody doesn’t know if they’re going to like it or not like it, this is a way for them to comfortably ease into it a little bit,” Cox stated.
There is no upper age limit for the cadet program, according to part-time firefighter Todd Bonecutter, who helps oversee the program.
Currently, 12 cadets are enrolled in the program. Participants can live in DeKalb, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Allen and Whitley counties, according to the department’s web page.
Sessions take place two times each month, with classroom and live fire training sessions at the department’s training facility behind Fire Station 2.
“The goal is to progress a young person to be able to join a volunteer department or a career department when they get to the age of 18,” Bonecutter said.
“We have had over 120 cadets go through our program over the past 12 years, with over 50% of them joining other departments around the northeast Indiana area.”
People interested in the cadet program can pick up an application at Auburn Fire Station 2 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. or by contacting Bonecutter through the cadet program’s Facebook page, facebook.com/auburn.fire.cadets.
For many volunteer departments, finding people willing to join is a challenge.
Just ask Ashley-Hudson Fire Chief Dave Barrand. His 18-member roster is comprised of residents of the neighboring towns.
“Some days, we’re down to two (able to respond). Some days, we’re up to six,” he said of daytime calls. Those numbers are similar for evening calls.
“Weekends are hard because everybody’s got something going on: family vacations, trips,” Barrand said.
“I wish we had about five or six more, but it’s just hard to get people,” he said.
Barrand has been in the fire service for more than 20 years, mostly in Ashley.
“I enjoy helping people,” he said. “We all want to be part of the community, make the community better and stronger. We’re all there to help people.”
Barrand has several thoughts going through his head when his department is paged: “Who’s going to be there, how serious is it, are we going to need mutual aid? That’s the first couple of things that come to mind,” he said.
Ambulance response time is another concern.
“The downfall for us is being in the northern part of (DeKalb County), so getting a DeKalb truck is 15 minutes or so,” Barrand said. “Sometimes, if it’s a long ETA (estimated time of arrival) for DeKalb, we do request Steuben out.”
While the department may have one or two people a year come forward and express interest in serving, a recent event geared toward the younger generation brought a resident forward.
“We just did a little cadet day and we actually got one person that lives in town,” Barrand said. Cadet day involved firefighters showing equipment and explaining what they do.
“It was more geared for the younger generation, teenagers, but we actually did get one adult that expressed interest that turned in his application.
“That’s a positive for us,” he said. “We were able to draw that one adult in, which was awesome.”
“It’s a great feeling just to be able to help people in their time of need,” Barrand said. “It’s fulfilling to me to be able to go out and help somebody.”
©Copyright 2024 KPC Media Group, Inc.