Volunteer firefighters need more support

Webmaster's Note: An interesting op-ed from a local politician.

By: Delegate Thomas Rust

02/07/2007

Last year, I was approached by Loudoun County on behalf of its volunteer fire departments and rescue squads, which are having a difficult time training and keeping volunteers in its system. They are not alone. I soon found that Fairfax County has similar problems retaining its volunteers, and this is true across the commonwealth.

One of the things we learned in the aftermath of 9/11 is the value of volunteer public safety workers to our overall homeland security. In some localities they operate as a critical supplement to career employees and in others they act as the primary first responders. Whatever their role, we cannot forget the pivotal role they played at the Pentagon and at the World Trade Center.

Five years later, most volunteer departments report that the recruiting boom they experienced after 9/11 has ended. They have resumed their perennial battle for new recruits.

This year I introduced a resolution calling for a study of incentives used in other volunteer systems to retain volunteers and provide them a better reason to continue on as "free labor" of sorts to keep our communities safe. In earlier years, many volunteer firefighters and rescue squad workers received a small benefit for the hundreds of hours of service each typically puts in per year - a tax break on the vehicle they used to travel to and from their duty station. With the advent of car tax relief, that benefit does not always mean very much to our volunteers.

HJR743, the resolution I introduced to accomplish this study, recently passed the full House of Delegates unanimously and will now go to the Senate for consideration. It is my hope that this study will give us a better idea of how to keep our volunteer fire and rescue squad workers engaged in a calling that we often take for granted.

The types of incentives we offer these men and women can cost us pennies and give us dollars in return. Many of them have served our communities for decades, and I hope this will give us a window into the ways we can continue to benefit from their service, while recognizing them for the invaluable assistance they provide.

Del. Rust, a Republican, represents Herndon and Sterling in the 86th House of Delegates district.

©Times Community Newspapers 2007