Firefighters have volunteered to protect South Jersey people and buildings for more than a century. As the work has required better equipment and training, they’ve been challenged to contribute more time and effort to keep up. Meanwhile, the complexity and intensity of increasingly urbanized life is demanding more of everyone’s time. Volunteer firefighters have had to devote an increasing share of their discretionary time for free.
The number of U.S. volunteer firefighters decreased from 884,600 when the National Fire Protection Association began surveying in 1983 to 682,600 in 2017, it reported in 2019. Still, volunteers account for more than 70% of U.S. firefighters.
Some municipalities have transitioned to paid fire departments to ensure they’re fully staffed when needed. Those lucky enough to still have volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians strive to keep them. Six years ago Stone Harbor tried providing a stipend to boost volunteer numbers, but then in 2021 put seven full-time firefighters/EMTs on the borough payroll. Sea Isle City started providing stipends to ensure coverage during off-hours.
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Paying volunteers a small amount for each call answered (or run made) has become a popular way for local governing bodies to support their firefighters and encourage others to join volunteer companies.
Hamilton Township is the latest in South Jersey to join the trend, with its committee approving a pay-per-run incentive program for firefighters the week before Christmas. It follows a Linwood pay-per-call program approved in 2019 and one in Somers Point in 2022.
The amount Hamilton Township will pay volunteers per run will be determined at the committee’s reorganization meeting today at 6 p.m. Fire company officers such as chiefs, assistant chiefs, captains, lieutenants and security officers will receive a yearly stipend.
Township officials developed the program after reviewing three years of calls from the Cologne, Mays Landing, Laureldale and Weymouth volunteer fire companies.
“I think that this is long overdue. We are at a time where thanks is not enough,” Township Committee member Art Schenker said when the plan was proposed in November. “We need to do this, and it’s a good jumping-off point. We need to encourage volunteers to come. We need to show that we appreciate them.”
Mayor Carl Pitale said, “This gets our feet wet and see what we can do. … Nowadays, they are begging for guys and women to jump on the trucks. … We have to figure out a way to get people to join.”
Among registered fire companies, there are 1,058,800 active career, volunteer and paid per call firefighters in the United States, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. Of the active firefighting personnel, 35% are career firefighters, 53% are volunteer firefighters and 13% are paid per call.
On internet bulletin boards, firefighters report pay per call flat fees that typically range from $2 to $20, or a stipend based on the length of the call if more than an hour.
Providing volunteer firefighters with a little money would seem like a simple matter, but nothing is simple when it comes to government. Pay per call programs are subject to federal and state wage and hours regulations, which require strict distinctions between employees and volunteers, and prohibit compensation of the latter.
The International Association of Fire Chiefs issued a report on how to manage volunteer firefighters to be in compliance with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. It says that after three years of review, the U.S. Department of Labor specified a test of whether pay to volunteers resulted in changing their status to employees. The DOL said “an amount not exceeding 20 percent of the total compensation that the employer would pay to employ a full-time firefighter” would be considered a “nominal fee” that left the firefighter’s volunteer status intact.
It seems unlikely that most volunteer companies would be so busy that paying firefighters per call put would put them close in a year to what a paid, full-time firefighter would earn. Even if it did, the municipality’s personnel cost would be just a fifth of having a paid staff.
Hamilton Township officials think their program might cost in the tens of thousands of dollars a year. Pitale said the cost of the alternative — a paid squad — would be intense. “I don’t think that anyone wants to see that budget number.”
We hope volunteering continues to appeal to many men and women. There are still plenty of benefits, even if changes in firefighting and emergency medical have eroded them. Pay per call is a good way to nudge the balance back in favor of public spirited community service.