The Brookings, South Dakota volunteer fire department
(“Click” photo to enlarge)
California’s overpaid, overpensioned firefighters love to claim they merit their astronomical compensation packages because of the risks they take. They have no answer when I point out that the average California firefighter is paid 60% more than paid firefighters in other 49 states. Meanwhile the CA 2011 median household income (including government workers) is only 13.4% above the national average.
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I’ve dealt before with the fact that such firefighting risks are far less than the union firefighters claim, as there are quite a number of other occupations with as great (and sometimes FAR greater) risks than modern firefighting.
But if you really want to unsettle the union firefighters, point out that about 72% of the nation’s firefighters are volunteers. They really don’t like volunteers, and have done all they can to make it difficult to have such an option in even the most rural parts of California.
I’m not suggesting that all fire departments should be volunteers. There’s a case for an on-call fire department in urban areas, though it could be a contracted out service. My point about volunteers is that the “high pay for the risk” argument falls apart in the face of such widespread volunteer interest.
I might add that while a paid urban fire department can make sense, it
ALSO makes sense in such jurisdictions to have a volunteer reserve fire brigade — for the big emergencies (in California, that’s primarily the brush fires). But the all-powerful firefighters’ unions battle against this option every step of the way.
They want “boots on the ground” — but only if they are UNION boots on the ground. They’d prefer your home burned down rather than having volunteer auxiliary firefighter support in times of need.
I decided to learn a bit more about voluntary firefighting departments. So in January 2015 I spent 3 hours with a VERY professional VOLUNTEER fire department in Brookings, South Dakota (Did I mention JANUARY! — the high that day was minus-two degrees.). Five volunteers and the paid fire chief sat down with me for a long discussion. This helped me better understand how a quality volunteer fire department works.
The town of Brookings has a population of about 22,000, plus good-sized college of about 13,000 students (2,000 or so are also Brookings residents). There are five fire stations manned by 2 pros (the fire chief and assistant chief) and 45 volunteers. The city fire department also has 270 square miles of rural area it covers. In addition there’s one paid “admin” person.
A volunteer firefighter is an alien concept to most Californians — especially our union firefighters. But it’s real, it’s working and it’s widespread throughout the nation.
Visit the South, the East, or the Midwest. Visit volunteer fire departments. It’s an eye-opening experience.
South Dakota is typical for many states. The more rural states have few paid fire departments. Only four non-military full-time paid fire departments exist in all of South Dakota. There is no firefighter “farm system” for volunteer firefighters to land the plush paid union firefighter jobs. There is no paid fire department nearby that comes over to bail them out, no matter how tough the fire is.
Darrell Hartmann, the Brookings fire department chief, is a career firefighter – but he’s spent many years running rural fire departments. His pay is about the same as the base pay for a seasoned California firefighter — $88,000 annually, with excellent benefits — a remarkably reasonable salary, given the quantum difference in responsibility. But then, I DO live in California. The Brookings fire chief gets no overtime pay, even though he and/or his paid assistant fire chief usually go on site for any fire at any hour.
Most CA labor union firefighters are simply baffled by true volunteer firefighters. It’s a calling, often multi-generational in nature – an alien thought to our mercenary CA union firefighters (though the common CA firefighter nepotism — keeping the lucrative, coveted firefighter pay positions “in the family” — is a scandal in itself).The Brookings Fire Department annual report includes much useful information. You can read it here:
BTW, don’t be fooled by the old truck on the annual report cover — it’s a “mascot” truck for parades, etc.
And talk about extreme conditions. I interviewed Brookings volunteers, and asked them “What motivates you to get out of bed at 2 AM and go out into -25 cold with 30 MPH winds blowing to fight a fire? For FREE?”
They just shrugged their shoulders and replied “It’s what we do. It’s what our community expects.”
Of course, these volunteers come from various fields. Some are government workers, a couple work for the electric utility (providing the department with great power safety talent), some in construction. Almost all are employed or self-employed.
The volunteers have to have an employer who will let them off when a call comes in. Sometimes the employer might help with pay while they are off on a fire call. One interesting aspect is that a volunteer fire department can’t loiter too long after a fire is out — the volunteers need to get back to work, or to sleep. Unlike paid fire fighters who are on call through the night, they don’t get the next two days off.
The volunteers train weekly. The city has a low ISO rating (a national measure of firefighting effectiveness — the lower, the better) and proudly maintains an average response time of 5 minutes, 53 seconds, which includes long trips to rural fires. In the city, the response time is well under five minutes — amazing when one realizes that the fire stations are unmanned, with volunteers showing up from work or home.
As a result, the city has low fire insurance rates. According to the chief, “Our [city] rating will be an ISO 3 by the end of the year. The 270 sq. miles outside the city limits is an ISO 8a, which may drop to an ISO 6 in the near future.”
Rural areas always have relatively unfavorable ISO ratings compared to urban areas, as the response times are inevitably much longer — regardless whether a fire response unit is staffed with volunteers or paid firefighters. The 2014 chart of fire department response times is on page 5 of the fire department’s annual report.
Unlike a full-time urban fire department, the usual practice is for all stations to turn out for a fire, with an average of 25-26 firefighters reporting per call — a bigger response than urban fire departments muster in direct response. This large turnout a big factor in the quick response time.
The Brookings’ equipment rigs are first rate. Quoting the fire chief: “We run five Engines, a Heavy Rescue, an Aerial Platform, a Ladder Truck, an ARFF Truck, four Brush Trucks, two Tenders, a Zodiac Boat, 6×6 Ranger for Wildland and Rescue, Air Trailer, Collapse Trailer, and a Hazmat Trailer. We are currently replacing our 1992 Ladder Truck.”
The next oldest vehicle is a 2001 rig. The community generously spends far more taxpayer money on equipment rather than on firefighter labor — the opposite of paid fire departments.
There is some turnover in volunteer firefighters annually — Brookings lost 3 out of 45 last year. The biggest turnover factor is people moving away. It’s always a challenge to get a person to commit to being a volunteer firefighter — the training and hours are a remarkable sacrifice. But when we talked, the chief said they have 8 volunteers on a waiting list. Experience has shown that the long term, established residents are more prone to volunteer than new folks — who may not think of their new town as a long term community for themselves.
If an opening appears, the new volunteer must undergo a background check and a full physical. To quote Chief Hartmann, “We require that a new firefighter completes the NFPA Certified Firefighter I and II (180 hrs) plus the NWCG S-130 and S-190 (24 hrs) within their first year. They attend our training while also attending their required courses. Our average firefighter trains a minimum of 220 hours a year, with many well exceeding that.”
Unlike California urban fire departments, the Brookings medical response function is handled by the city-owned but independently operated hospital. It has one ambulance ready to roll, and a second stand-by ambulance can be manned in well under 15 minutes. More ambulances and crew are available if an event or disaster calls for it. All staff is paid.
As an ALS service, each ambulance is manned by at least one paramedic — the second person has to be at least an EMT. They have a staff of 22 people, though most are part-time. They gets about 170 calls a month, usually through the 911 response system, run by the police department. The city seems quite satisfied with the service.
In my city of San Diego, a medical 911 call starts a race between the city firefighters and the city-funded ambulance service owned and run by Rural Metro. Whoever gets to the afflicted person first gets to claim primacy on site, and whoever arrives second stands around to lend assistance if requested by the first team, until it’s clear they are not needed. Hence we send SIX people — most smaller communities with volunteer fire departments send just an ambulance with two trained medical personnel.As I said, volunteer fire departments usually are not the solution for the more urban areas. But it’s an idea that, properly implemented, can offer relief to many smaller towns in California. And, perhaps most important, this widely used option puts the lie to the firefighter claim that only high pay will get people to take on the risks of firefighting — a point that’s verified by the 100+ quality applicants for each CA paid firefighter opening.
Firefighters are my heroes — VOLUNTEER firefighters.
Comments 26
Eating, sleeping, lifting weights, polishing the engines (and their pickles). A fundamentally unsound fiscal situation.
You get what you pay for…………..
Great expose’ Mr. Rider: BZ
I drove passed our local 46 Station the other day…mind you, it is not manned 24/7..it ostensibly has alternating days where the station is manned. Out front I saw two s-class Mercedes and a brand new Cadillac SUV in the station parking lot; I thought, “wow, those community college graduate firemen sure know how to invest…” Frankly, I could care less where they spend their money; yet, when its our money then I guess one cares where they spend…
Lesson Learned- I should have turned down my regular commission, bypassed 36 physically and mentally grinding weeks of OCS and The Marine Basic Officer Course and my selection for the USMC fellowship to Fletcher and Harvard and gone back to junior college. …and I could have avoided a green mamba transiting my GP tent in Africa, remained at home and now have an Escolade in the drive way…silly me.
Sadly, the Police situation is not dissimilar. The amount of money cops get for their alleged overtime is patently grotesque (BTW, the 18-22 year olds manning active military posts around the world as I write this don’t get overtime). I have close contacts with the police and sheriff departments. Many non-badged personnel (who BTW are not unionized, and often are treated quite poorly and very much like second class citizens ironically by the unionized personnel) have shared remarkable stories of contrived reasons for detective “official” overtime…not to mention the misuse of county and city vehicles for “official” business. One even relayed the worst kept secret in their unit; a “badged” colleague was using an official vehicle, collecting overtime, to conduct surveillance on an ex-girlfriend…
I was raised to respect and honor both fireman and police. I have known and befriended many over the years. Mnay have and are willing to make great sacrifices for our community and our safety. However, when a considerable number are so engrossed in regularized and institutionalized corruption and unethical antics, and fueled by power-maniacal politicians, it makes it really difficult.
To use the modern vernacular, a hater is going to hate.
Author
Actually, the “Salton Sea Lifeguard Service” apparently is a fictitious organization — not on Google, and an absurd idea from the get-go. Hopefully this comment was written with the author’s tongue firmly planted in his cheek. More likely, it’s from a bot, which actually appears to be the case.
But, on the off-chance that you’re both serious and a human being — SOOOO, we Californians get firefighters who are 60% better than the firefighters in the other 49 states? Really?????
Surely you shop only at Nordstroms and Sacs 5th Avenue. Because “you get what you pay for……..”
Author
HQ, the “hater” is usually the person who writes that another person is a “hater.” It’s the standard leftist response. Look in the mirror to see who I’m talking about.
Richard:
“Salton” is indeed a real person, who goes by that handle, and who comments here somewhat regularly. A “flavor” of some of his other recent comments…
“Non-sense…….It will take an event of epic proportion to derail Clinton…………Carter got screwed by Reagan Black Opps…….What matters is who can muster up a big wooley dog with a swooping tail to wag…….
“Soros did Cunningham, and Hearst did Patty………If that fails then I’m sure we can have a voter fraud nite in florida……or hell how about some Martial Law in Texas………Votes and voters like Poly Hacks are mindless……….”
_____
“Why stop there Mr Andersen? Gore was case officer for the Arabs from San Diego who took flight lessons here. I stopped backgrounding Gore, Kolender got involved.
“At that time I was backing Duffy for Sheriff. Duffy was and is a Cop’s Cop. Gore was the primadonna from the FBI. Much about the FBI can be read from the book written by…….Frank Buttino.
“Buttino is a brave man. X FBI. And a good writer. His book is epic.”
_____
“Blackwater just changed names. The scope of private militia is huge. Wackenhut and Pinkerton have been in the game for 30 years. Russians had camps in Mexico and we have camps for arabs throughout the border regions.
“It will soon be hitting home. They are here in numbers. Our freedom and liberty were taken in 1963. By 2020 we may have lost the last chance for recoupment.”
HQ-
Not every critic is a hater…this is a very hyperbolized and disingenuous tactic used by the left. We saw it manifest during the 2008,2010, & 2012 elections when any criticism of BHO was immediately and vehemently met with incendiary invectives of “racism, intolerance”..etc…
I’m surprised; you’re normally more measured and cerebral than that…
But its an overused play, and the Republicans are much better at calling it out and identifying it for what it is…false propaganda.
You have had a front row seat here on Rostra watching Mr. Rider and myself go at it rhetorically time and time again. From my vantage point, he himself used some of the same rhetoric in descibing my positions against Mr. DeMaio in some of our more “heated” discussions…but in this incident, his analysis is spot on.
In case you haven’t noticed; we have run out of money. The honey pot is dried up, and the idea that CA Unionized FFs are inherently better, and therefore require more money, is absurd on its face. They are a powerful and well supported union that along with other organized labor unions, are a vanguard for keeping many of the same hack Democratic politicians who continue to steer the CA train off the trestle, in power. The left loves its unions and will go to great lengths, including vilifying sound and well researched analysis and its proponents, solely on the opposition on the merits alone.
We can agree that cronyism, corruption and squandering the public trust is not inherently just a Democrat issue…but they appear just better organized at implementation and execution than the GOP counterparts.
…and its costing us billions…
From the Urban Dictionary:
Hater: A person that simply cannot be happy for another person’s success.
Seems to fit.
A couple of points:
1. There are volunteer fire departments throughout rural California; you didn’t have to go all the way to South Dakota to find one.
2. A lot of those volunteer fire departments are staffed by off-duty or retired police or other public employees.
And so many questions:
1. Are you measuring heroism inversely to salary or on some sort of credit and demerit system that takes union membership into account? For example, if a preacher who earns a stipend of $100k a year and a police officer who earns $70k a year volunteer at the same fire department which one is more heroic?
2. How about retired military? If you are a retired military police officer than serves as a volunteer firefighter do you get credit for one and a demerit for the other? What if you’re retired military and a union firefighter? Do the two cancel each other out?
3. Given that you believe “blacks venerate ‘gangsta’ culture,” is an African-American volunteer firefighter less heroic than a white volunteer firefighter? What if the white volunteer is a public employee and the African-American volunteer isn’t?
Maybe you could create a handy flowchart so we’re better able to identify the heroes in your world.
Richard,
Like what you said about getting “what [we] pay for.”
We overpay drastically for what we’re getting.
Hope voters wake-up and smell the fire department (public employee) BS before it’s too late.
HQ,
Well then be that well thought out definition, we must “hate” bank robbers, cyber hackers, and financial embezzlers. They are “successful” too. I don’t hate them; yet their “success” needs to end where universally recognized law, morality, and decency begin. Stealing from those who earn their money to lavishly spend on political agendas and prop up ideological forces and then protect their voting bloc in a quid pro quo is hardly “success”. It’s a racket.
The people of CA deserve and should demand better. It isn’t about the firemen’s success; it’s about the public well being. That includes responsible spending and financial discipline. Regrettably, our Liberal friends aren’t terribly successful at either.
Author
HQ, you have a problem understanding success EARNED via voluntary exchange, and success based on COERCION — using force to collect loot that one can’t receive through voluntary exchange.
I have no problem with rock stars, movie actors, software moguls, industry titans, etc. They earn their success and living through voluntary interaction (though I oppose such success via crony capitalism). No envy on my part.
But when YOU come and use force to take from ME to improve your financial “success,” I have a very real problem with that. You’d agree with me, except you make your living using force to extract from others what you and your allies think you “deserve.” You’re an extortionist. Legal, yes, but extortion nevertheless.
I seem to remember you opposing costly pro sports subsidies. Correct me if I’m wrong on that. But assuming that is true, according to your “hater” standard, you hate pro athletes.
FF,
You compare fire fighters to bank robbers, cyber hackers and embezzlers. You say that fire fighters lack morality and decency and are breaking a universally recognized law by accepting pay and benefits for their work. And you have the gall to state that my comment was not measured and cerebral.
Richard,
Actually, I do support subsidies for professional sports teams (a conversation for a different thread). For this comment, I will simply point out that you previously accused me of not understanding the word “force” ( in a post about Dave Roberts) and now it is obvious that neither do you.
Thank you Richard. This post was long overdue. Hundreds in line for one opening speaks volumes about how out of line compensation packages are with the work.
When it comes to heroes and death on the job put me down for roofers and fishermen. Those two groups bring great value daily to my life and don’t use force to extract my money to pay for it.
Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate firemen and the service they provide but not at these rates.
Orange County Firefighters make $240,000 per year …
http://unionwatch.org/the-average-orange-county-firefighters-total-compensation-is-234000-per-year/
Author
Soooo, HQ, you’re admitting that neither one of us knows what “force” means? Well, I’ll mark your self-diagnosis as progress in your education, even if only a baby step.
Yes Richard. Unlike you, I am willing to admit when I make a mistake.
HQ, good..then you’ll have the opportunity to admit your mistake when you try to conflate the actions that you defined as “success” with now crafting a false narrative of me “comparing” firefighters with criminals…
That is a very non-cerebral and frankly childish retort…come on, you’re better than this…
Your argument was I, and others, were displaying “hater” creds because we believe CA unionized firefighters are overpaid and their budgets are bloated. That is a legitimate critique and RR did a serious and thorough analysis as to why there are workable and financially responsible alternatives.
You said we were “hating” because we somehow were opposing their success. By YOUR definition, then bank robbers and computer hackers are successful and we should relish and celebrate their success.
The current state of the unionized firefighter organization in CA is flawed…and many believe corrupt to fuel and perpetrate a racket style construct to keep Democratic politicians in power. THIS is not an indictment against firefighters..it’s an indictment against Liberalism and Democratic cronyism…of which some Firefighters’ leadership are complicit and therefore negligent in their ethics and duty.
When civilian leadership of military personal make bad decisions or political decisons that force rank and file officers and troops to do unethical, immoral, or even illegal actions, it is not an indictment on all military personnel. When it continues, and officers and mid-managment civilian leadership don’t say or do anything to thwart it, then they too are complicit and should be held accountable. We have many examples of this (My Lai, Combodia Bombings, Iran Contra, Blackhawk Down, and recently Benghazi to name a few). Many of these took courageous men from inside to raise the issues at great professional peril. I can only hope their are people of fortitude and conviction within the CA firefighters and even municipal police that are willing to step forward and cite and present wrong doing or unethical practices that further hurt the people of California.
…or do you support the continuation of a corrupt construct to keep Dem Pols in power over the wellbeing and financial security of the poeple of CA? Those of us who want to optimize the FFs, and PDs, are unquestionably for the latter..
Author
HQ says: “Yes Richard. Unlike you, I am willing to admit when I make a mistake.”
I once thought I make a mistake, but it later turned out that I was wrong.
Richard,
Got to give you credit. That was an oldie, but still a good one.
FF,
“Well then be that well thought out definition, we must “hate” bank robbers, cyber hackers, and financial embezzlers. They are “successful” too. I don’t hate them; yet their “success” needs to end where universally recognized law, morality, and decency begin. Stealing from those who earn their money to lavishly spend on political agendas and prop up ideological forces and then protect their voting bloc in a quid pro quo is hardly “success”. It’s a racket.”
I believe I copied the above quote directly from your comment. I do not think I made a mistake when I said that “You compare fire fighters to bank robbers, cyber hackers and embezzlers.”
In fact, it is you that should have apologized for making the comparison, yet instead you doubled down by comparing the Fire Fighters’ exercising of their First Ammendment rights with “My Lai, Combodia Bombings, Iran Contra, Blackhawk Down, and recently Benghazi to name a few.”
You asked me “…or do you support the continuation of a corrupt construct to keep Dem Pols in power over the wellbeing and financial security of the poeple of CA? ” I will answer by asking you if you believe that Unions don’t deserve first ammendment rights?
Whining and being a hater will not change anything. If you believe that San Diego would be better off with volunteer firefighters, either elect five Council Members and a Mayor who will make that change or run a citizen’s initiative and convince 50% of your fellow San Diegans to make it so.
Author
HQ, you continue to raise false issues. I don’t think anyone is saying that we should have a volunteer San Diego CITY fire department. Certainly not me! Read the article before commenting.
Never mind.
My point is clearly stated — the widespread prevalence of volunteer firefighters around the nation destroys the union firefighter argument that they “deserve” six figure pay and pensions for the risks they face. They SHOULD be paid if full-time, but not nearly so much — just as the other 49 states pay their firefighters now.
Is that “hating”? Only in your Saul Alinsky handbook. The mindless left wing “hater” charge is what you stoop to when you have no cogent rebuttal. Indeed, it speaks volumes to your inability to intelligently debate the issue. It’s sad.
Richard,
I read your entire post. Did you note that my last comment was directed to Founding Father and not you?
Since this comment is directed to you, I ask you: How do you feel about the compensation being paid to executives of public utilities? Quasi-monopoly cable companies? Any other business that spends freely to elect officials who will write laws that will give their business an advantage?
Author
HQ, I’ve been clear about opposing crony capitalism, and oppose laws that establish monopolies. There’s a couple that lay claim to “natural monopoly status (utilities). But 99.9% of business have no such status, and SHOULD not have that advantage. If a competitor can make a go of it, the government should get out of the way, as has been the case with phone service. It took too long to end the “natural monopoly” of AT&T, but end it we did.
But you raise a good point. No government-protected, private monopoly should be allowed to unionize, as their political power grows dramatically with that coercive arrangement. We overpay ALL monopoly workers — from the CEO to the janitor. Perhaps all monopolies should be limited to the average pay and benefits for ALL people performing the functions and responsibilities of employees, calculated on a job by job basis.
I could live with that. Parity for monopoly employees. And for government workers!!
Government operates as a monopoly TOTALLY dependent on force and coercion. But in in most of its functions, it does not have to be the only provider. It has no “natural monopoly” status when it comes to WHO provides a government funded service. We should make every effort to contract out as many government functions as possible, with a heavy emphasis on open, competitive bidding.
Author
Here’s an addendum to my article:
Though the Brookings FD is not the primary medical response service, the volunteers are not without some medical training. To quote the chief: “All members have 1st aid, CPR and AED training annually. We currently have thirteen EMTs and one paramedic on the fire department.” Given that the average turnout for a Brookings fire is 25-26 volunteer firefighters, then they get about seven EMT’s on each call.