Kennebunkport Fire Dept. in need of volunteers (Printed Oct. 26, 2007)
By Stowell P. Watters
Staff Writer
The people who fight fires in Kennebunkport are not paid, they are volunteers who, in addition to giving their time to storm smoke-filled buildings, fight raging balefires and respond to emergency calls at a moment’s notice, work full time jobs.
“No one does this for the money,” said Mike Lovejoy, a Kennebunkport resident and volunteer firefighter captain of 20 years.
Recently the department, which was formed in 2005 by the uniting of four separate stations in the area, has been feeling the pinch of low volunteer sign-up rates.
“We could really use a shot in the arm,” said Fire Chief Dan Brock as he stood amongst 14 volunteers during an Oct. 21 smoke-house simulation drill. “Our force is all volunteer, 62 members and then me, the only paid person in the department.”
Fifteen years ago the enrollment into firefighting programs among volunteers in the country was much more impressive than it is today, according to Brock who speculates that this general trend is part of the reason Kennebunkport is seeing such a drag in volunteer membership.
“There are about 100,000 less volunteers in the country than there were 15 years ago,” he said.
The lack of new volunteers has the innate capacity of raising the department’s average age; the force is getting older. Brock said that the average age of the Kennebunkport Fire Department is about 45.
Part of being a fire chief is being responsible for the recruitment of new volunteers into the department so Brock and the Kennebunkport Fire Department are starting up a new recruitment program. On Oct. 11 he gave a PowerPoint presentation to the Kennebunkport Board of Selectmen to this effect; detailing the decline in volunteers, the announcement that will be running on the cable access channel and the changes to the town’s Web site that will hopefully bring new blood into the program.
“Our theme is neighbors helping neighbors,” he said.
The program will bring this issue to the attention of the town, and in Brock’s mind, become the catalyst for a new wave of firefighters and civil service.
“We still have a very active, capable group here, but we will need to replace people as they retire, and with current trends we just wont be able to do that,” he said.
On Oct. 21 a group of 14 volunteers met with Brock to run drills pertaining to the use of their self contained breathing apparatuses (SCBA), a procedure which must be done often to make sure the firefighters are capable of operating in rooms completely inundated with smoke.
In a gutted building off of Route 9 Brock hid a target item, and instructed the volunteers to don their SCBAs and retrieve it.
“We fill the building with a non-lethal smoke, but smoke nonetheless,” he said. “Basically you just pour vegetable oil onto a heating coil and bam, you have smoke.”
Drills like this keep the volunteers sharp, and test their ability to use the equipment that helps them save lives. In Maine the process of becoming a firefighter is extensive, involving more than 200 hours of training. But it wasn’t always this way, according to Lovejoy.
“When I joined it was basically ‘here’s your SCBA, get out there,’ now the process is a bit more daunting and I think that definitely has an effect on the in-flow of new recruits,” he said.
Lovejoy also cited a lack of affordable housing in the area for young families that hurts the recruitment process.
“Young people are not exactly flocking to Kennebunkport, new people make things interesting, without new blood we suffer because we aren’t training all the time, and aren’t practicing these things,” he said.
“New blood keeps us from growing stagnant, we could really use a boost in our man-power pool.”
While the problem is not an emergency, Brock said that if trends continue Kennebunkport will be in trouble down the line.
“We just need people to know that this is being run by volunteers, and that if they have any interest to please come down, sign up and help out,” he said.
Those interested in the volunteer program can visit the Kennebunkport town Web site www.town.kennebunkport.me.us.
Staff Writer
The people who fight fires in Kennebunkport are not paid, they are volunteers who, in addition to giving their time to storm smoke-filled buildings, fight raging balefires and respond to emergency calls at a moment’s notice, work full time jobs.
“No one does this for the money,” said Mike Lovejoy, a Kennebunkport resident and volunteer firefighter captain of 20 years.
Recently the department, which was formed in 2005 by the uniting of four separate stations in the area, has been feeling the pinch of low volunteer sign-up rates.
“We could really use a shot in the arm,” said Fire Chief Dan Brock as he stood amongst 14 volunteers during an Oct. 21 smoke-house simulation drill. “Our force is all volunteer, 62 members and then me, the only paid person in the department.”
Fifteen years ago the enrollment into firefighting programs among volunteers in the country was much more impressive than it is today, according to Brock who speculates that this general trend is part of the reason Kennebunkport is seeing such a drag in volunteer membership.
“There are about 100,000 less volunteers in the country than there were 15 years ago,” he said.
The lack of new volunteers has the innate capacity of raising the department’s average age; the force is getting older. Brock said that the average age of the Kennebunkport Fire Department is about 45.
Part of being a fire chief is being responsible for the recruitment of new volunteers into the department so Brock and the Kennebunkport Fire Department are starting up a new recruitment program. On Oct. 11 he gave a PowerPoint presentation to the Kennebunkport Board of Selectmen to this effect; detailing the decline in volunteers, the announcement that will be running on the cable access channel and the changes to the town’s Web site that will hopefully bring new blood into the program.
“Our theme is neighbors helping neighbors,” he said.
The program will bring this issue to the attention of the town, and in Brock’s mind, become the catalyst for a new wave of firefighters and civil service.
“We still have a very active, capable group here, but we will need to replace people as they retire, and with current trends we just wont be able to do that,” he said.
On Oct. 21 a group of 14 volunteers met with Brock to run drills pertaining to the use of their self contained breathing apparatuses (SCBA), a procedure which must be done often to make sure the firefighters are capable of operating in rooms completely inundated with smoke.
In a gutted building off of Route 9 Brock hid a target item, and instructed the volunteers to don their SCBAs and retrieve it.
“We fill the building with a non-lethal smoke, but smoke nonetheless,” he said. “Basically you just pour vegetable oil onto a heating coil and bam, you have smoke.”
Drills like this keep the volunteers sharp, and test their ability to use the equipment that helps them save lives. In Maine the process of becoming a firefighter is extensive, involving more than 200 hours of training. But it wasn’t always this way, according to Lovejoy.
“When I joined it was basically ‘here’s your SCBA, get out there,’ now the process is a bit more daunting and I think that definitely has an effect on the in-flow of new recruits,” he said.
Lovejoy also cited a lack of affordable housing in the area for young families that hurts the recruitment process.
“Young people are not exactly flocking to Kennebunkport, new people make things interesting, without new blood we suffer because we aren’t training all the time, and aren’t practicing these things,” he said.
“New blood keeps us from growing stagnant, we could really use a boost in our man-power pool.”
While the problem is not an emergency, Brock said that if trends continue Kennebunkport will be in trouble down the line.
“We just need people to know that this is being run by volunteers, and that if they have any interest to please come down, sign up and help out,” he said.
Those interested in the volunteer program can visit the Kennebunkport town Web site www.town.kennebunkport.me.us.
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