Fire crews dwindle

PALMER — In 28 years as a firefighter, Bruce Axtell said he’s seen a lot of things.

But lately there’s been a trend that’s left him somewhat concerned.

“The demographic of a volunteer, that mythical person who is a volunteer, has changed,” said Axtell, acting chief of the Palmer Fire Department.

It used to be that his department was filled mostly with older professionals, folks with roots in the Valley who tended to stick around.

Now, he said, “We’re getting more young people in that want the training we give them and then they’re off to college or find out they need three jobs to meet rent,” and stop showing up

Very few of the baby boomers, he said, are still active.

“Every once in awhile one of them will come and go,” Axtell sighed for effect, “‘I’ve just got to go golfing. Here’s my gear.’”

On any given day, he said, if the pager goes off he can count on himself and the department’s other full-time staffer, assistant chief Todd Russell. There’s a woman who, provided her children are in school, can respond. And there are a few more, including two employees at Midas.

“If they’re not too busy, one of them might be able to come,” Axtell said.

But, in general, maybe 15 to 20 of the department’s roster of 45 firefighters can be relied upon to respond. Which, on most smaller calls, means that maybe a half-dozen firefighters come to the scene.

He said there’s another sub group, of 15 or so, who will likely show up if pages from dispatchers indicate the department really needs them.

“If we send the third page out that this is a big working fire we’ll sometimes get two or three others,” he said.

And, with the financial crisis looking like it might head into a full-blown depression, Axtell said it doesn’t look like the picture’s getting much better. Families that need both parents working might not be able to spare one to put out a blaze.

That’s why Axtell is hoping the department can step up recruitment efforts. Volunteers, he said, get paid $9.50 an hour in Palmer whether they’re working a fire or attending trainings. Unlike other departments, where the pay increases the more training a responder receives, Axtell said Palmer goes with a flat pay scale.

“Nobody in our department is making a living being paid on-call,” he said.

But there are other benefits, he said, not least of which is being part of a community at the firehouse.

The department, he said, when it moved its administrators into buildings near its training facility on Cope Industrial Way, converted a corner of its downtown station into a lounge for firefighters to socialize. It’s a clubhouse of sorts, complete with a Nintendo Wii.

He said volunteers could be anybody, from Explorers who can be as young as 14, all the way up to senior citizens.

“There’s always a need for younger, robust people who can put on an air tank and go charging into a fire,” he said.

But fighting a fire takes all kinds. They need folks to pull hoses and shuttle equipment to where it needs to be.

“As long as they’re reasonably physically fit we’ll take them and train them,” Axtell said.

And, really, even if they’re not. Long, drawn-out fires present a need for folks willing to bring sandwiches, water and sports drinks. That’s what the department’s auxiliary is for.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.