ALBANY, NY (WRGB)- Volunteer firefighter staffing in New York has dropped to its lowest level in more than 40 years, prompting fire officials to warn that the decline has become a public safety crisis.
Fire commissioners, chiefs and firefighters are holding an emergency press conference at the state Capitol, where they are expected to urge state lawmakers to change laws they say are contributing to staffing shortages.
Ralph Raymond, identified as a vice president with the Association of Fire Districts, said six firehouses across the state shut down last year because of a lack of volunteers and warned more could follow.
Raymond said recruiting volunteers has become increasingly difficult because the work requires a major time commitment at a time when many people are working two jobs to make ends meet.
He also said training requirements are demanding. As a result, departments are relying heavily on mutual aid from neighboring towns.
Firefighters are calling for an optional, locally designed program that would allow departments to pay volunteers a small amount to fill coverage gaps and stand by at firehouses when staffing is low.
“We’re not saying change the law to develop a program that we can cookie cut and put into every fire department throughout New York state,” Raymond said. “That’s unrealistic.”
“There are fire departments up in New York state that possibly can’t nominally compensate or their rate of nominally compensating the firefighter would be less,” he said.
Raymond also noted that volunteer fire departments save taxpayers billions.
One local career firefighters’ union is also sounding the alarm. In Schenectady, the local firefighters’ union said annual calls have increased significantly since 2005, from around 12,000 calls per year to more than 19,000.
The department has 105 fire and EMS members and is budgeted for 117, according to the union.
Mayor Gary McCarthy said new grant funding will be distributed to the fire department for training new recruits once required paperwork is completed.
Fire officials were expected to meet on the third floor of the state Capitol on Wednesday to press legislators to take action.