Fire departments race against time, covid to recruit members with federal grant

Officials are on target to meet a goal to recruit 300 new firefighters in Westmoreland County under a $4.3 million federal grant.

There have been 267 new recruits to fire departments around the county since the grant was awarded in 2017, according to James Shaw, Hempfield’s director of code and safety. The grant has footed the bill for new turnout gear, physicals and training for those recruits, inching closer to reaching the target number by November when the funding runs out.

The added manpower and money have been a lifesaver for some local departments, said Forbes Road Fire Chief Bob Rosatti, who is an advisory board member for the grant. But the fire service as a whole remains at a “critical state,” he said.

“This was by no means the solution to the problem … but it did help some fire companies,” Rosatti said.

The $4.3 million SAFER grant — Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response — from the Federal Emergency Management Agency is being administered through Hempfield Bureau of Fire. The funding is being shared by 60 departments representing 83 of the county’s fire stations. Not every department is participating.

The grant provides stations and their members funding through a variety of means, from tuition reimbursement to stipends. Hempfield is contracting with Adapt Management, a grant management and marketing firm, to handle the disbursement of the money.

Shaw said he plans to ask FEMA for an extension of the November deadline after the coronavirus pandemic hampered efforts. There is $1.3 million left.

“We’re trying to spend the money that was given to us to benefit the firefighters as a whole,” he said.

State Fire Commissioner Bruce Trego said the number of firefighters has been dwindling statewide for decades. There is an estimated 38,000 firefighters in Pennsylvania, down from about 80,000 in the 1990s, he said. Some pockets of Pennsylvania seem to do better at getting new members while others don’t fare as well.

“It does seem that there are less and less of that younger group coming in and staying,” he said.

In Westmoreland County, there has been about $64,000 spent on training, $56,600 has gone toward physicals for new firefighters and departments have received $186,300 to outfit their new recruits under the SAFER grant, Shaw said. Firefighters have received about $488,000 in tuition reimbursement and $986,000 has been doled out in nominal stipends for firefighters who meet certain requirements. Every firefighter has been provided with $250,000 accidental death and dismemberment insurance.

The stipends were a welcome touch especially for the firefighters who have been around for years, said Bradenville Fire Chief Mark Piantine. In his Derry Township department, firefighters have to make a certain number of calls, drills and meetings to qualify for it.

“If you make that percentage … you get a check for $550,” he said. “We’ve been averaging between 18 and 20 guys getting the stipend.”

The grant has been a huge help for his department, Piantine said 17 or 18 new members have signed up. That influx came with a price tag — $3,000 each for new gear, all of which is covered under the grant.

Forbes Road Volunteer Fire Department in Salem picked up seven or eight new volunteers, a “high number,” Rosatti said.

“It has helped our department tremendously,” he said.

The grant has provided departments with money, manpower, education and training, he said. Members of the state Firemen’s Association are working on similar efforts through the group’s own SAFER grant. Fire and EMS agencies can apply for grants at becomeapafirefighter.com.

Trego said state officials are trying to make training more accessible by adding online classes and options where a student can complete certain skills within their own fire station.

“We’re trying our best to limit the amount of time in the classroom, it’s a totally new concept for us,” he said.

The pandemic has exacerbated the recruitment and retention problem, increasing the stress departments were already under trying to do more with less members.

“I think it’s put an additional strain on a strained system,” Trego said. The volunteer numbers have been in crisis for quite some time.”