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ENDANGERED SPECIES

January's magazine editorial cartoon speaks to any department which relies on volunteers or paid-on-call personnel to protect their district. Quality local jobs are dwindling and people have become less interested in helping their communities to concentrate on second careers, soccer games, and a myriad other distractions. In most cases, they no longer work and live in the same community, as was the case just 10 or 15 years ago. What's more, the crop of young replacements are leaving for the promise of brighter futures in larger cities where their service as volunteers is not needed - and who can blame them. It's a very scary situation with no immediate answers. Aggressive recruitment and retention is not enough - if the people aren't there, they aren't there!

The volunteer or combination fire department will not go extinct, but they will look dramatically different in the decades to come. Creative solutions by smart and dedicated people will navigate through this crisis - they always have! Fires will go out, people will be saved, and emergencies responded to - it's just a question of how far you can stretch what you have and how innovative you will be with the future.

How times have changed, eh? Your thoughts?

To see more of my work visit: www.artstudioseven.com

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Comment by Paul Combs on January 25, 2011 at 10:35am: Hey, Tiger - great to hear from you! The cartoon ends with a statement rather than a question because the volunteer/combo department as we know it today is without a doubt endangered. The volunteer fire service is in a state of flux and the caché of men and women who graciously and courageously give their time is shrinking; this is not breaking news. However, for me there's no question that volunteers (as we know that designation to mean today) is endangered - and it may be a healthy thing. Change can be good, don't you think?

I'll be sure to attend your presentation in Indy, Brother - can't wait!

Comment by Tiger Schmittendorf on January 25, 2011 at 10:32am: PS - I'm a little concerned about the Tigers too! LOL

Comment by Tiger Schmittendorf on January 25, 2011 at 10:06am: Not if I have anything to say about it...

Paul - Nice job as always on bringing the critical issues to the forefront through your vivid artwork. However, I think the caption should be more of a question than a statement, at least for now.

I agree wholeheartedly with your statement: "Creative solutions by smart and dedicated people will navigate through this crisis - they always have!" That's the reality of the situation: there are no single or silver bullet solutions to the challenges we face in the fire service - volunteer or career.

What it will take is a whole lot of imagination, creativity, sheer will and determination to overcome the challenges we face today - and tomorrow.

I've often said that the survival and success of the volunteer fire service relies on our ability to create MORE opportunities for MORE people to volunteer LESS time. That in itself is no easy solution but diversifying our workforce is a start.

Hope to see you at FDIC. I'm addressing this very topic in my "From the X-Box to the Box Alarm: Leading and Motivating Today's Firefighters" presentation.

Stay safe. Train often.

www.firerecruiter.com

www.tigerschmittendorf.com

Comment by Paul Combs on January 25, 2011 at 8:47am: Thanks, everyone!! The cartoon does target volunteer and combo' departments, but as many of you have stated here and on Facebook, it easily represents the fire service as a whole. As I've said, we will never become extinct, but the firehouse of the future is going to look much different than today. However, firefighters will always be firefighters and our resolve toward the Brotherhood and our heritage is ironclad - that will never change and why this is the GREATEST calling in the world. Period!

Comment by Dave Stacy on January 24, 2011 at 9:05am: Love it, very good and true; this one made the email forwarding list!

Comment by Nick Morgan on January 23, 2011 at 8:05pm: Good one Paul! As a former volunteer, I think Jason hit the nail on the head.

Comment by Paul Combs on January 23, 2011 at 3:59pm: "Pretty Bird"!!? LMAO!!!! I haven't heard that in forever!! Sorry, folks - that one's a little inside joke between me and Marcus. I wonder what ever happened to that bird? Poor thing...

Comment by Jason Hoevelmann on January 23, 2011 at 2:04pm: It is getting tougher for volunteers and we have seen a slow, steady decline in our combo department that started prior to having paid personnel. I think it can be attributed to many things, but one area in particular is the time required. It no longer is a "club" atmosphere, so to speak. Training requirements, meeting requirements, fire prevention activities and responding to calls takes it's toll on a family. Households typically are not supported by one income, rather both husband and wife are working making family time even harder to come by. Our society requires more from us and with kids activities, our time is stretched so thin that it makes it tough to choose where to put our time. Thank God for those that do, because they are some of lief blood in their communities and they are still needed. Nice one Paul, well done and thanks.

Comment by Joe Heim on January 23, 2011 at 1:21pm: Fortunately our department has seen a resurgence in younger people joining the department. We have opened up our pool of candidates to include people that live outside our city limits that don't live in an adjacent volunteer departments area and it has seemed to work. This has helped two fold 1. it gives us more personnel that want to help and 2. they filter in as the second wave at fires or other long term incidents to relieve the first crews. We also train with and utilize our mutual aid departments quite regularly.

Stay Safe!!

Comment by Art "Chief Reason" Goodrich on January 23, 2011 at 11:51am: With the growing concerns for the cost of services, do we see a resurgence in volunteer fire departments?

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