Quantcast
Channel: News Feed
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 3016

MN Experiencing Decline in Volunteer Firefighters

$
0
0

MN Experiencing Decline in Volunteer Firefighters

By: 

Avery Neuville

Photojournalist: 

Harry Baker
FOX 21 News, KQDS-DT

Regions: 

  • East-Central MN
  • Minnesota
  • Northwestern WI
  • Twin Ports
  • Wisconsin

Topics: 

  • Firefighters
  • Volunteers
  • Community
  • Public Safety
http://www.fox21online.com/sites/default/files/volunteer-shortage-111714.mp4
DULUTH, Minn. - Out of roughly 20,000 firefighters in Minnesota, nearly 19,000 are volunteers.Results from a recent study show an enormous amount of recruitment problems with the state's non-career firefighters.Minnesota has the second highest percentage of volunteer fire departments in the nation, at 97.3 percent, yet it has the lowest number of firefighters in the region with 36 firefighters per 10,000 residents."Our staff is made up of about 2/3 of volunteer paid on call staff so it's a major issue for us," said Cloquet Area Fire Department Chief Kevin Schroeder. Fire departments in cities like Cloquet and Proctor run mainly through volunteers.Schroeder said, "We have roughly 60 firefighters, 22 of them right now are full time and 36-37 of them are paid on call."So, what are the factors affecting volunteer recruitment?Demographics and high demand are just a few.Rural areas are more likely to face non-career firefighter staffing issues.Schroeder said, "As the demographic changes the baby boomers get older and age out and retire. We don't have the number of younger people getting involved."People have busier lives which leaves a gap in daytime coverage for the cities of Proctor and Cloquet.Chief Troy Dewall of the Proctor Fire Department said, "People have full time jobs. They have responsibilites and obligations."Another reason for the decline is the high demand in the training process.Dewall said, "There's continuing education credits we have to get. Plus, you're constantly going to school or you're constantly training."Although this has been an ongoing issue for nearly five years, fire departments are in need of help now more than ever."If they keep piling on the amount of duties that we have to do and the licensing and training that we have to do, you're going to see that curve continue to grow," said Dewall.The Cloquet Area Fire District and Proctor Fire Department are actively recruiting volunteer firefighters.Anyone interested should call (218) 499-4258 for application information or check out Proctor and/or Cloquet's Facebook page.

Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 3016

Trending Articles