Volunteering to save lives

SPENCER TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WUPW) - In Toledo, firefighters are on duty 24-7 waiting for emergency calls to come in.

But most departments nationwide and in Northwest Ohio and Southeastern Michigan don't operate like that. Smaller fire departments rely on those volunteers to rush in from home, and head out from the station.

Those differences come with some serious challenges.

Imagine trying to convince somebody to work, in some cases for free, in other cases for just a few dollars an hour, to do any job.

Now add in crazy hours, and life-threatening conditions.

That's why firefighters FOX Toledo News talked to say they have to find the people who aren't in it for the money. The people who get involved because they love what they do.

But that can be harder than it sounds.

Outside Middleton Township's No. 2 fire station there's a sign posted. It says "We Need Volunteers."

This Wood County department isn't the only one facing that problem. It's not so much recruitment. The challenge lies in actually keeping people on the department, once they've joined.

Sometimes, it's the gruesome things they see that turn them off.

"Some people burn out and you don't see them," said Lt. Sue Gavron, Central Joint Fire District. "They've had it. That's it. This is a hard job - and I use the term 'job' because even though we are volunteers, we give of our time. We have to be available 24/7. That means leaving your family during holiday time, dinner time. Making different plans."

"They get on, they think the can do it, they get trained, then they find out it wasn't for them and they leave," added Spencer Township Fire Chief Michael Koepplinger. "There's no shame in that. This is not a job for everybody."

Time's another big problem. Years ago, volunteer firefighters in rural communities were generally farmers, Lt. Gavron said. So, back then, they could drop everything no matter what the time of day.

Today, Central Joint covers 77-square miles of Wood County, south of Bowling Green, and they've got people with all kinds of careers.

"We have BGSU students and we recruit from the criminal justice classes," Lt. Gavron said. "We have truck drivers, we have teachers, we have retirees; we have all sorts of people who bring to the table some different kinds of skillsets."

That also means different schedules and, with most of the regular jobs being 9-to-5 gigs, some departments noticed that during the day it took longer for them to make it to emergenices.

"Due to the fact that most people on the volunteer side are working daytime jobs, your availability is usually pretty thin," Chief Koepplinger said.

So Lucas County's Spencer Township Fire-Rescue decided to address that problem. The township put a levy on a ballot, which voters approved, to bring in a day shift. There's at least two people at the station eight hours a day, five days a week.

BY going to a paid part-time, it allows Spencer Township Fire-Rescue to have quick response times.

But that brings up the question -- are you really as safe, say, in Spencer Township as you would be in Toledo?

When it comes to response times, a spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Commerce said it doesn't matter what type of department you're working with. Outside factors like weather, construction, and location all play a role in how long it takes a fire truck to get there.

So doing a side-by-side comparison of volunteer and full-time, doesn't paint the entire picture.

But Lt. Gavron said her volunteers go through the same training -- hundreds of hours of it -- to make sure they're ready for anything.

"Just because it's voluntary does not mean we don't have standards of attendance, standards of performance, standards for training - things like that," she said. "We're just like a full-time department.

Something to keep in mind with all of this - volunteer and part-time departments aren't something limited to the country.

Several of Toledo's suburbs rely on their firefighters to respond from home.

If you're curious about the department that protects you, it's as simple as going to your local fire station and talking to the chief.