Volunteers fighting fires in face of financial woes

By Mason W. Canales in The Killeen Daily Herald
Numerous summer wildfires, an endless drought and rough economic times are taking their toll on volunteer fire departments that have longed survived on community service and generosity. “Monetarily, in general, the state fire services are underfunded,” said Chris Barron, executive director of the State Firemen’s and Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas. “Seventy-seven percent of the fire service is volunteer departments, and they are working on a shoe-string budget.”

Last year, the state cut its annual grants for volunteer departments from $25 million to $7 million a year, said Barron. “Seven million dollars sounds like a lot, but when you have to spread it (across) more than 1,400 volunteer departments (in the state), that goes quick,” said Barron, noting that fire bunker gear costs several thousand dollars and a new brush truck can run, at a minimum, between $60,000 and $80,000.

With the increased fire activity in 2011, truck fuel and maintenance costs consumed limited department budgets with the speed of wind-fueled flames across dry grass. “They always have money problems, because like last year they had so many fires,” said Bell County Fire Marshal Steve Casey. “They do need all the money that they can get because they do all the maintenance and need to keep up the personnel and training.”

Despite the financial constraints, most volunteer departments in Central Texas are making their operating funds work. “The economy is bad and donations are down compared to what they used to be, so it is tight for us,” said Danny Hail, president of the Lampasas Volunteer Fire Department. “We are not going to let that interfere with going to calls at all. If there is a fire or a wreck, we are going to it one way or the other.”

The Salado Volunteer Fire Department also refuses to scale back its operating mission because of tight budgets. “We try to make both ends meet,” said Salado Fire Chief Charles Young. “We have been fortunate that we have been able to survive and keep our funds to pay all our bills.”

Volunteer commitment

In Bell, Coryell and Lampasas counties, there are only six paid departments — Temple, Belton, Harker Heights, Lampasas, Killeen and Copperas Cove, which means the majority of the three-county territory is served by volunteer firefighters in about 25 departments. (In Lampasas, the paid and volunteer departments work in tandem, sharing space and calls.)

Three volunteer departments — Salado, Kempner and Southwest Bell County — responded to more than 1,590 calls last year. The three nonprofit organizations have about 80 volunteer firefighters.

The Kempner department, which has about 30 volunteers to serve its 126-square-mile district, just graduated six new recruits. “Recently we have had an increase (in recruits),” said Kempner Fire Chief Dan Hause. “Typically we get recruits through word-of-mouth and family and friends.” Last year, Hause said his department might have seen a slight surge in volunteers because of the summer wildfires; when people see a need they will volunteer to serve.

Barron with State Firemen’s said the wildfire devastation across the state, especially in Bastrop, captured national media attention, which probably increased recruitment statewide.

While maintaining the volunteer numbers hasn’t been a problem in Central Texas, having the firefighters to respond to calls can cause a dilemma sometimes since most volunteers have paying jobs. It’s harder for people to pull away from work when a fire call sounds, said Hause.

The geographic distance between jobs and fire calls often aren’t in close proximity. For example, Hause volunteers for Kempner, which is where he lives, but he works in Gatesville. To compensate, he carries his fire equipment in his truck and often meets the department trucks at the scene of a blaze.

In Central Texas, the age of volunteers crosses several generations. In Lampasas, like other departments, the firefighters range in age from 20 to 70.

“I didn’t get to serve in the military, but this is my way of giving back,” said Hail, 57. “I think everyone should serve their country, town or county somehow and this is mine.”

Making the money work
Bell, Coryell and Lampasas counties provide some sort of subsidy to their volunteer fire departments, but the money is tight. In Lampasas, the county provides fuel and insurance for the fire vehicles, said Bud Broker, president of the Kempner Volunteer Fire Department.

Bell County gives about $400,000 to all the area departments, said Casey. The money is broken down by emergency medical service, square mileage within each fire district and structure fire calls.

Coryell County dedicates about 1½ cents of its property tax revenues to fund fire departments, including Copperas Cove — the county’s only paid department. Coryell County Auditor Ben Roberts said the county distributed $308,000 to 11 fire departments during the 2010-11 fiscal year, and budgeted $313,000 for the 2011-12 fiscal year. The money is divided similarly to Bell County’s allocations.

To bridge the financial gaps, volunteer firefighters are developing creative ways to fund their departments, which sometimes mean using their own savings.

“Eighty-six percent of those volunteer firefighters take money out of their personal pockets to keep fuel in their trucks or purchase equipment for their fire department,” said Barron.

Maintenance, fundraisers
Most volunteer departments do patch work on their trucks and equipment until they can afford to properly fix the problem or purchase a new vehicle, which can take a couple of years sometimes.

Southwest Bell County, like other departments, has volunteer firefighters spend their Saturdays performing maintenance on fire vehicles, which might include major repairs sometimes. Young, with Salado, said taking the truck on a grass fire call cost $150 for fuel. Then tires for vehicles are generally about $200 each. Since volunteers mostly fight wildfires, tires must be replaced often.

Most volunteer departments host at least one major fundraiser a year and rely on other donor resources for their rest of their operating costs.

For Southwest Bell County and Kempner volunteer departments, the big event is a combo barbecue and auction. In addition to its main annual event, Southwest Bell County receives money from charitable bingo and has a steady rooster of regular donors. For Kempner, one-third of its budget is generated at the annual drive, said Broker. The organization receives another third of its budget from the Kempner Water Supply Corporation, which solicits its customers for donations through water bills.

“That has been real helpful because we average between $700 and $900 a month,” said Hause. “It has worked beautifully … and it helps us out tremendously.”

Budgets at a glance
Harker Heights
Operating budget
2012: $3.5 million
2011: $3.3 million
2010: $3 million
Employs: 44 people.
Provides ambulance service.

Belton
Operating budget
2012: $2.39 million
2011: $2.36 million
2010: $2.33 million
Employs: 32 firefighters.
Provides ambulance service.

Killeen
Operating budget
2012: $16.24 million
2011: $16 million
2010: $14.68 million
Employs: 194 people in uniform.
Provides ambulance service.

Temple
Operating budget
2012: $8.94 million
2011: $8.62 million
2010: $8.6 million
Employs: 104 people in uniform.

Lampasas
Operating budget
2012: $756,320
2011: $729,925
2010: $668,300
Employs: 9 full-time, 4 part-time.

Copperas Cove
Operating budget
2012: $3.5 million
2011: $3.5 million
2010: $3.5 million
Employs: 45 people, 4 chiefs.

Kempner Volunteer Fire Department
Revenue raised was under $50,000, which is the IRS’s reporting limit during 2010.
Expenditures in 2009: $72,508.
Revenue in 2009: $64,290.

Southwest Bell County Volunteer Fire Department
Revenue in 2010: $204,874.
Expenditures in 2010: $157,416.
Expenditures in 2009: $111,670.
Revenue in 2009: $165,395.

Central Bell County Fire
and Rescue
Revenue in 2009: $74,098.
Expenditures in 2009: $155,032.

Salado Volunteer Fire Department
Revenue in 2009: $321,603.
Expenditure in 2009: $173,488.