Fire Department Jobs

County will not add paid personnel to volunteer fire departments

COSHOCTON -- While some surrounding counties are moving toward having paid personnel in their fire departments, this is not an issue for Coshocton County.

The chiefs of the county's volunteer companies all said having full-time paid firefighters and other staff is not something under consideration at this time. They said department numbers also have remained steady during the past few years.

The closest any of the volunteer departments come to being paid is one department that gives them a stipend for incidentals such as fuel.

Coshocton County has eight fire companies. Of those, Bakersville, Franklin-Conesville-Virginia, Three Rivers Fire District, Jackson Township and West Lafayette are volunteer. Coshocton and Walhonding Valley Fire District have paid personnel.

The Frazeysburg Volunteer Fire Department recently added two paid full-time firefighters/medics to cover daytime shifts. Volunteer firefighters often have regular jobs and sometimes are not available for emergency calls in the middle of the day. Coshocton County fire chiefs said while this can be problematic, it's never been a major issue.

Three Rivers Chief Lynn Powelson said many of his firefighters work different shifts, allowing people to be available almost any time of day. He said the department has about 35 firefighters.

West Lafayette Chief Gaylord Hill said many of the firefighters who work in the village have permission to leave their jobs, such as employees of Jones Metal Products Co., if they are needed for a fire call.

Conesville Chief Randy March said an Ohio law states that if someone is late for work because they were responding to an emergency as a volunteer firefighter, they can be excused with a note from the chief. March works for RockTenn Co. and said he never has had a problem being available when needed. He said his department has 18 firefighters.

"For any fire run, except maybe daytime, we're usually out of the door within two to three minutes," March said. "We might go out with only two guys on a truck instead of four in the evenings. We also have a mutual aid agreement in the county. We can call sheriff's dispatch in Coshocton and say we need another company."

Another concern not an issue in Coshocton County is the availability of emergency medical personnel. In addition to responding to fire calls, many fire departments run medical squads. Coshocton fire departments do not offer Coshocton County Emergency Medical Services responding to any medical emergencies.

Grant could fund firefighter jobs in Calif.

The Press Enterprise

HEMET, Calif. — The Hemet Fire Department is banking on the approval of a $1.6 million grant and an improved economy to secure the future of a dozen firefighters.

The Hemet City Council will vote Aug. 9 on whether to accept the federal grant, which would fund those Fire Department positions through 2013.

The council may decide not to accept it because the grant comes with some restrictions — notably, that the city would have to maintain the same staffing level at the Fire Department through the life of the grant.

The SAFER grant, which stands for Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response, is through the Homeland Security Department. A $2.2 million SAFER grant approved last year provided enough money to fund jobs through 2012 for nine firefighters who otherwise would have been laid off, and allowed the department to hire three others.

The department applied for a second grant with the intention of reopening Fire Station 5, shuttered in 2008 due to budget cuts.

But with the city still in dire financial straits, the department decided to use the second grant to maintain those 12 positions for one additional year, Fire Department grant writer Diane Matsumoto said.

It also would be used to form a medical response team that would reduce response times and require firetrucks to be used less often for medical calls, Matsumoto said.

Hemet Mayor Jerry Franchville said he's unsure whether the City Council will approve the grant. He said council members would have to weigh the grant's restrictions.

"There are a lot of questions. We're appreciative of the grant, but when we applied two years ago, it was before things have changed with this Fire Department," Franchville said. "The fear is after the grant runs out, we may have to lay off the positions and may not be able to support it."

Once the grant runs out, city officials said, they are not sure how they would fund the positions if the economy has not improved.

"One thing to remember is at least we've bought a little bit of time," acting Fire Chief Bill Whealan said. "We hope the economy is getting better.

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