Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Calling out for volunteer firefighters

By David Pepose, Berkshire Eagle Staff
Updated: 01/27/2009 09:56:00 AM EST

Tuesday, January 27
LANESBOROUGH — In the face of dwindling recruitment, the state's volunteer firefighters are pushing to drive up their membership.

After receiving a $291,600 federal grant, the Massachusetts Call/Volunteer Firefighters Association will be holding recruitment meetings throughout the first half of February.

"(The goal is) to help the area departments boost their memberships," said MCVFA Region 5 Vice President Paul Vallone. "Dalton is down to 32 members — I'm hoping we can try to get these departments up to 45 members."

According to MCVFA statistics, only 45 percent of Massachusetts firefighters are volunteers, compared to 75 percent nationwide. Yet Vallone said that volunteer recruitment is more important than people realize, as all but two fire departments in Berkshire County are comprised entirely of volunteers.

"Some are EMTs, and some work directly with the fire departments, but all of them have a full-time job that go along with what is, in essence, a full-time job with no compensation," said State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield. "There is no way to overemphasize the importance of volunteer firefighters in the Berkshires as well as the whole of Western Massachusetts."

Vallone said the last recruit for local firefighting was inducted over the summer. "I think a lot of people, with the economy being the way it is, are making decisions to put food on the table and to spend
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more time with their families," he said. "People are stepping down from their positions, and that's where we're losing our members."

To solve this attrition, the MCVFA will be having workshops to teaching fire chiefs and department staff to recruit new volunteers and EMTs. Dr. Bill Jenaray, a 30-year veteran volunteer firefighter and CEO of Emergency Services Education & Consulting Group, will head the workshops.

The MCVFA has also taken steps to saturate the Western Massachusetts media market by filming a public service announcement at the Lanesborough Fire Department. The ad, Vallone said, is set to be released in March.

Despite his recruitment woes, Vallone said that the MCVFA provides a crucial service to Berkshire County. "As a volunteer firefighter you're helping your community — when the bell sounds or your pager sounds, you're putting your life on the line to help your community," he said. "It gets harder and harder to help each other out, that's why we're doing this recruitment drive to build up these departments again.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Recruitment and Retention for Volunteer Firefighters in Western Massachusetts.

Lanesborough Volunteer Fire Department is again playing a role in Recruitment and Retention for Volunteer Firefighters in Western Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Call/Volunteer Firefighters Association (MCVFA) has been awarded a federal grant in the amount of $291,600 for a statewide call/volunteer firefighter recruitment program. The grant is from the federal government's Staffing For Adequate Fire And Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program.

As you may recall the Eagle provided excellant in depth coverage of the recuitment video filmed partially at the Lanesborough Fire Station on Saturday, October 25, 2008.

Currently, there are about 120 fire departments in Massachusetts that rely entirely upon volunteer firefighters and another 150 that use a combination of volunteer firefighters and career firefighters. About 45% of all firefighters in Massachusetts are volunteer firefighters, compared to 75% of all firefighters nationally being volunteer firefighters.

In parts of Western Massachusetts, the recruitment campaign will focus on using broadcast television advertisements in the Springfield media market. In most of Eastern Massachusetts, the recruitment campaign will rely heavily upon cable television in selected communities. The difference in approaches between the eastern and western parts of Massachusetts is because of differences in the distribution of call/volunteer fire departments. In Western Massachusetts, the vast majority of the fire departments are volunteer or combination departments. There are only about a dozen career fire departments in the four western counties. In the Boston Metro area (inside Route 128), there are only about a dozen volunteer or combination fire departments, and in the area from Route 128 to Worcester, there is wide mix of departments.

The next step of the MCVFA grant is Recruitment & Retention workshops that are geared towards fire chiefs, but welcome all members of the call/volunteer and combination fire service. All departments are invited and encouraged to attend and bring staff or send representatives. The programs will focus on how you can recruit call/volunteer firefighters and EMTs. It will be presented by Dr. Bill Jenaway (bio) and his staff, a nationally recognized expert from Volunteer Firemen’s Insurance Services, Inc. (VFIS) and Emergency Services Education & Consulting Group (ESECG).

The Workshops are scheduled to run from 7:00pm to 9:00pm and will be held throughout the state after a kickoff meeting in Lanesborough on February 2, 2009. All dates and locations are listed below

SCHEDULE
DATE LOCATION ADDRESS
Monday, February 2, 2009 Lanesborough Fire Department 180 S. Main Street, Lanesborough, MA 01237
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 Great Barrington Fire Department 20 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 Shelburne Center Fire Department 18 Little Mohawk Rd., Shelburne, MA 01370
Thursday, February 5, 2009 Williamsburg Fire Department
at Meekins Library 2 Main Street, Williamsburg, MA 01096
Monday, February 9, 2009 Spencer Fire Department 11 Dewey Street, Spencer, MA 01562
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 Medway Fire Department 44 Milford Street, Medway, MA 02053
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 Sterling Fire Department 5 Main Street, Sterling, MA 01564
Wednesday, February 18, 2009 Onset Fire Department 5 East Central Avenue, Onset, MA 02558
Thursday, February 19, 2009 Groveland Fire Department 183 Main Street, Groveland, MA 01834

to REGISTER Contact the MCVFA workshop coordinator Susan Dyer at 508-309-5980 or email recruit@mcvfa.org

BIO
William Jenaway, Ph.D., CFO, CFPS

Dr. William F. Jenaway, is the CEO of Emergency Services Education & Consulting Group (ESECG) responsible for training, education and consulting services provided to clients of Volunteer Firemen’s Insurance Services, Inc. (VFIS) and ESECG. His organization provides training to over 20,000 fire/EMS personnel annually and provides technical guidance and consultation to over 200 agencies annually.


He served as Chief and Fire Marshal of the East Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania Volunteer Fire Department; and as Chief and President of the King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; Volunteer Fire Company, as well as being Chairman of the municipality’s Fire and Rescue Services Board. Under Chief Jenaway’s leadership, the department became the first all volunteer Accredited Fire Service Agency in the US. Fire Chief Magazine named him the “Volunteer Fire Chief of the Year” in 2001.


Bill’s background includes 30-plus years of volunteer fire and EMS experience. In 2004 he was named to Chair the Pennsylvania Senate Resolution 60 Commission to evaluate and provide recommendations to the Pennsylvania legislature and fire service on strategic approaches to the state’s fire and EMS delivery system. Over the years, Bill has authored over 200 articles, seven texts and provided over 100 speeches on fire and life safety issues. He holds Certified Fire Protection Specialist and Certified Fire Officer designations as well.


In 1999 he was named to the Presidential/Congressional Commission known as the “Advisory Panel to Assess preparedness for Terroristic Acts Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction” (a.k.a. Gilmore Commission). Dr. Jenaway also serves as President of the Congressional Fire Services Institute and is Past President of the Pennsylvania Fire Services Institute. He serves on the National Fire Protection Association Committees of Emergency Services Risk management; Providing Emergency Services to the Public; Fire Department Apparatus, and Fire Service Training. Dr. Jenaway is in his second, three-year term as a Commissioner on the Commission on Fire Department Accreditation.

Charles "Butch" Garrity, Deputy Chief Lanesborough Fire Department
180 South Main Street
Lanesborough, MA 01237
station 413-443-2321 cell 413-684-4405

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Fire guts vacant home in Adams

By Scott Stafford, Berkshire Eagle Staff
Updated: 01/20/2009 03:01:56 AM EST

Tuesday, January 20
ADAMS — The cause of a blaze that destroyed a vacant Phillips Hill Road house over the weekend is under investigation by the state fire marshal's office.

About 35 firefighters from Adams and Cheshire battled the raging fire in frigid temperatures.

One firefighter suffered a minor injury and was transported to North Adams Regional Hospital as a precaution. He was treated and released.

Temperatures dipped from 4 degrees to 0 degrees.

Firefighters retreated to a nearby home to warm up in shifts while battling the Friday night blaze.

According to Paul Guyette, Adams Fire Department deputy chief, the house is nearly a total loss.

"It's especially difficult on the personnel at the scene with the temperatures that low," Guyette said. "And this is our third structure fire in three weeks, so we've been very busy."

The call came in at 7 p.m. on Friday. Four fire trucks from Adams responded, with one engine from Cheshire assisting and the Clarksburg Fire Department covering Adams during the blaze.

To reach Scott Stafford: sstafford@berkshireeagle.com, or (413) 664-4995.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Fire station on track to finish on time

By Trevor Jones, Berkshire Eagle Staff
Updated: 01/04/2009 06:50:45 AM EST

Sunday, January 04
GREAT BARRINGTON — It may have taken years for the project to get off the ground, but it appears the town's new fire station will be ready on — or ahead of — schedule.

Construction of a new $9.48 million fire station — which will be located along State Road in Great Barrington — is on track, according to those involved with the project. And there are hopes the Fire Department can be moved into the new location by November, replacing the department's century-old station on Castle Street.

"Ahead of schedule and under budget is my goal," said John Varones of JVP Consulting LLC, which is overseeing the project.

And while Varones did not want to give a specific time frame for work completion, he does anticipate work will be done before the scheduled completion deadline of December.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in August, and while Fire Chief Harry Jennings said construction got off to a late start due to contract finalizations, he is pleased with the pace of the construction and would like to be in the building in time for a chief's meeting that will be held in late November, adding that the facility will be something both the town and the department can be proud of.

The station's concrete foundation has already been set, and the structural steel will begin to be installed this month. From there, precast exterior wall panels will be put up in the early spring and the
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majority of the work will then be done inside the facility, according to Varones.

Plans for a new fire station have been in the works for more than a decade, but concerns over cost and location derailed several proposals. Voters approved funds for the current project in 2007, and although there were concerns from some about the project being finished on time and within the approved funds, those involved with the project said things are running smoothly.

"We're ahead of schedule in a couple of areas and right on track in others," said Varones. "I'm anticipating a relatively trouble-free process."

And as the construction proceeds as planned, a proposed staffing change will not occur this year.

The new facility will feature a kitchen and living quarters that were put into the plans so the department could eventually hire full-time employees. But Jennings said that idea has been shelved, as he will not make any requests for new employees this year.