Chiefs across county struggle with numbers, aging departments
Oglethorpe County is experiencing a firefighter shortage.
“I think there’s a crisis across public safety, a crisis for personnel,” said Cody Gibbs, assistant chief of the Beaverdam Volunteer Fire Department.
According to department leadership, volunteer fire departments face two main problems: lack of numbers and lack of youth.
“I would say that one of the biggest things that has affected the volunteer fire service in the last several years has been the COVID-19 pandemic,” Gibbs said. “We saw several of our older members who were pretty active kind of just step back.”
And it’s not just affecting the Beaverdam VFD. Ages have increased across the country.
In 1987, 15.9% of the volunteer firefighters in communities under 2,500 people were 50 years old and up. In 2020, that percentage had increased to 34%, according to the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC).
“The problem is a lot of us are aging, and the younger people are not coming in to take people’s places when we age out,” said Heath Baker, chief of the Arnoldsville VFD.
Oglethorpe County is completely reliant on volunteer firefighters, who are unpaid.
The role also doesn’t require as many certifications as a paid position. A volunteer firefighter must pass the state’s written test, while a paid firefighter must complete the written portion and a skills portion in person.
However, volunteer firefighters make up 65% of the first responders in the U.S., according to the NVFC. And according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), approximately 70% of the fire departments in Georgia are completely or mostly volunteer stations.
As volunteers, Oglethorpe County firefighters don’t work shifts. Instead, they are notified by an app on their phones called First Due when their services are needed.
“Yeah, you’re on call 24 hours a day, 365,” Beaverdam VFD fire chief Jehu Post said.
Gibbs said he has responded to 80 incidents this year.
Despite being unpaid, volunteer firefighters receive a pension for their service.
To qualify, a firefighter must respond to 25% of the calls their station is dispatched to, attend 25% of the meetings and fundraisers their station hosts and record 24 hours of education and training during a calendar year for at least 15 years. There is a $25 draft from their bank account every month to pay into this pension.
Although department leaders said they don’t have an exact number of volunteers needed, any new recruits increase safety in the communities they serve.
The junior firefighter program helps address this issue. It allows teens ages 16 to 18 years old to assist their local department in an auxiliary role.
Residents can also help volunteer stations by becoming an auxiliary member, which assists the department in ways beyond normal duties.
“We would be more than happy to have auxiliary members,” Gibbs said. “If they want to handle the accounting for the department or, you know, supply dinner for a meeting night, that would be much appreciated.”