Fire department faces loss of half its volunteers

The worry isn’t just for the town of Digby.

“We have a big area,” says fire chief Robbie Morgan. “There are lots of dollars and cents to look after. From the Kingfisher (Motel) to Hwy. 101 is a huge part of the Municipality’s tax base.”

Digby’s department is the largest and best equipped in the area and is relied upon by smaller rural departments, several of which Morgan thinks could disappear in the near future because of rising costs and similar problems recruiting volunteer firefighters.

“It is a problem,” Morgan stressed in an interview last week. “The answer is going to have to come from provincial and federal governments.”

He suggests there should be financial incentives for firefighters, and he was interested earlier last week in a suggestion that government could pay an hourly rate to firefighters for answering fire alarms and also for time spent training.

The suggestion of hourly rates came from a member of a visiting Scottish delegation who said that approach has reduced a similar volunteer shortage in Scotland.

“We have some young firefighters, but they’re hard to keep motivated. They’re eager to come to fires, but not so much for training and fundraising,” Morgan said, adding that he has an impression young people today “don’t do anything for nothing.”

Some government incentives are already in place. Volunteers get free licence plates for their vehicles, and there is a $250 provincial tax deduction that escalates to $375 next year and $500 the year following that.

But incentives aren’t attracting new recruits in sufficient numbers. The Digby department has just two applicants in the pipeline, and Morgan doesn’t see the numbers coming forward to replace those who will be leaving.

“I’m lost. We’re nervous because we just don’t know how to replace them.”

The department has become a social club because to help maintain its current membership and uses suppers, campouts, a sailing regatta, golf and hockey to strengthen bonds.

It works well at ensuring turnout for fires, he said, but is less successful at encouraging participation in training and fundraising activities.

Fundraising is a plus and a minus. Department fundraising paid three of five trucks in the fire hall, as well as the recently acquired rescue boat, but fundraising also means volunteers have to give up some of their personal time.

Digby’s fundraising requirements aren’t as onerous as some other departments. “If they put in 150 hours a year, maybe 10 per cent—or a little more—is for fundraising,” said Morgan.

He said the town department is fortunate in that it is treated well by town and Municipality, but fundraising on its own provides for some major equipment purchases.

There is one other problem in attracting volunteers. Morgan is unable to leave his job if the business is shorthanded, and he acknowledges that small businesses can’t afford to hire someone to replace a firefighter who has to respond to an alarm.

“Daytime fires are tough that way. I’ve had to stand there for big fires and watch [the fire trucks] go by.”

Morgan said the government should also look at some method of compensating employers.