Chief Relies on Older Volunteers
Have you ever thought about the ages of the volunteers in your department? Here is a story about that question from The Patriot-News via FireFightingNews.com:
Like most chiefs of volunteer fire companies, Bill Carlisle has seen the number of volunteers dwindle.Carlisle, 31, joined the Fairview Twp. Fire Department 13 years ago. "You used to have to fight to get a seat on the fire truck, we had so many volunteers," he said.
Things are different these days, but Carlisle has an ace up his sleeve.
He calls them his AARP crew, although the five members of the group have nothing official to do with the association of older people.
They only qualify because of their age.
The five are sort of Fairview Twp.'s Marines, first to arrive at the "battleground."
"The younger guys all work during the day. These guys are retired. They're often the first ones at the fire, and sometimes they put it out all by themselves," Carlisle said.
I haven't seen any official data on this issue, but I'm guessing that as the baby boomers get older, the average age of volunteer firefighters will also increase.
