On Saturday, June 29th [2003], at the Commons in downtown Ithaca, we all have an opportunity to meet and observe the members and organizations of the Emergency Services departments in the county. In Tompkins County, a tiered system of response is used including fire, rescue, ambulance and police/sheriffs resources to provide the needed services in times of personal or public disasters. While segments of our county's response team include paid professionals, it is the volunteer fire and rescue squads that provide primary fire and Emergency Medical Services outside the city of Ithaca. These volunteer departments are staffed by your neighbors and friends who give the community their time and work so that all can be assured of emergency service when needed regardless of the time of day or day of the week. Each department has highly trained men and women who stop their lives at the sound of a beeper and drive with blue light flashing to their fire stations initiating prompt response to your personal emergency or community disaster.
The existence of emergency services depends on state and local funding and volunteers from all age groups within the community. While fit men and women are needed to perform some duties in a volunteer fire and rescue department, there is a need and a home for volunteers of all ages and abilities. Those in the community who are retired, disabled or not comfortable with the physical demands associated with a fire/rescue squad can provide critical support and administrative skills needed by every department in the county. The "mature" segment of our community has skills and experience invaluable to the volunteer departments including organizational and motivational wisdom, information technology skills, secret barbeque recipes, communications resources and grant writing experience.
The fiscal solvency of a volunteer fire department is determined by a balance between the revenues (mostly taxes paid to the municipalities) and the cost of providing the expected services. The revenues to a department can be significantly enhanced by grant funding if the volunteer organization has trained someone to be a grant writer or a member has experience writing grants in a previous career environment. The administration of a department is time consuming and detail oriented requiring a Chief or Deputy Chief to spend precious operational time performing these duties rather than training members in basic firefighting skills or skills needed in response to activation.
Retirees and seniors along with generous mature citizens have a unique opportunity to help the community by becoming members of your local volunteer fire and rescue companies. We need your expertise, your time and your wisdom to better serve our community when the call for fire or emergency medical service is made. There is a place for all of you in the volunteer organizations where your experience is valued and will be utilized in this fundamental service. If you have some time to give, if you want to help the community, if you have skills in administration or management, please accept a new challenge in your life by contacting a chief or member of your locally funded, locally operated volunteer fire and rescue squad.
Natan Huffman
27 Hungerford Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
Varna Volunteer Fire Company
The letter above originally appeared in a letter to the editor, Ithaca Journal, 2003.
Posted here Feburary 15, 2005. Natan Huffman is currently the Varna Volunteer Fire Company's Chief.