Beyond Our Own Four Walls 

Fire and emergency services delivery in the United States is headed for a crisis. These are strong words, but I would challenge you to prove them unwarranted. Many of us struggle to even acknowledge it, let alone admit it or accept that our own organization could be in tough shape. Don’t get me wrong, there are organizations that are holding their own, and a few that may even show signs of improvement. However, the bottom line is that as a state and country, the emergency services delivery model that we have been hanging onto for years will not serve the needs of our communities as we move forward. If we are honest with ourselves and take a hard look at our organizations, the outlook for the next 5 to 10 years is not good. Just as it would be unfathomable for horses and buggies to deliver orders to our front porch hours after they’re placed from our smartphones, it’s no longer feasible for our grandparents’ fire service to meet the ever-changing needs of our communities. 

So, what do we do about it? We seem to spend a lot of energy looking for someone or something to blame. I hear things like this from my colleagues: 

“These kids today don’t have the same work ethic that we did.” 

“The price of everything has gone out of sight.” 

“No one wants to serve their community anymore.” 

“This new administration is killing us.” 

“The old administration killed us.” 

“The weather has changed, and earth as we know it is different.” 

“Electric vehicles and batteries are the enemy.” 

“OSHA will be the death of us.” 

“Career and volunteer organizations cannot coexist.” 

I’m sure each of us could add another hundred reasons describing what the problem is or who is to blame. Often, we need to look no further than our own backyards to uncover the real issues. 

The challenge here is to figure out which problems are truly unique to our organization and which problems have been caused by our collective failure to adapt. We want to believe that our situation is isolated and that others can’t possibly deal with the same concerns and challenges. I speak to hundreds of officials from across the country each and every month. Listening to their concerns, it is obvious that we are all challenged with the same type of issues. The names of the responders, the color of the t-shirts and trucks, and the department name listed on the door of the apparatus may change, but we share the same challenges.  

In order to fix the problem, we need to understand how we got here. In New York State alone, emergency services are delivered in a variety of formats.  We have independent fire companies, private agencies, district organizations, special protection districts, village and town emergency services agencies, and city agencies. There may even be other structures we have failed to mention. Associated with each of these formats are laws and regulations governing how they operate. On top of that, we have state and federal agencies and consensus standards that also have an influence on how we operate. Each organization falls under the direction of an Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ). They have the ultimate authority on how we operate. In many cases, we experience friction with board members from our organization’s AHJ, so how could we possibly get along with them enough to fix our problems? In addition to the organization that allows us to function, we also have fire companies, which are the social organizations that supply the workforce to get the jobs done. When you talk to many first responders, they do not have a clear concept of how their organization is set up, or where each of these entities fit into the big picture. When you add mutual aid, county and regional teams, and state resources into the mix, it can really be confusing. We are not advocating for the closing of any firehouses or stripping away the identity built by decades of service and tradition. We are talking about exploring the structure of these organizations and asking if there is a better business model available to meet the needs of today and tomorrow.  

Next, we need to understand our communities. My small bedroom community used to be a rural farming community. We were pretty much self-sufficient. Where hundreds of small family farms used to dot the landscape, we now have just three operating dairies. Our school is closed. Our center of town general store is now a convenient store on the outskirts of town. With all those changes, we still try to operate a fire department like we did in the early 1900s. The equipment has been updated, but nearly everything else has stayed the same. Would any other business try to operate using the same model it did in the 1900s? I can’t drive home today without seeing at least one Amazon delivery truck at one of my neighbors’ houses. I can’t even remember the last time I saw a milk truck, yet somehow, we think the same fire department business model is still adequate.  

Back in the days when the fire siren could be heard throughout the valley, one would step outside to see where the accompanying plume of black smoke was coming from. Employers used to allow their employees to leave work because, when the siren blew, we were likely to have an actual emergency to contend with. Today, the pager goes off, the sirens fly by, but we rarely hear of any true emergencies that our neighbors have experienced. Many people today call 911 for very minor injuries or because they faintly smell smoke and believe something could be burning that shouldn’t be. Consider the level of liability we create for ourselves when we respond by putting tens of millions of dollars’ worth of equipment out on the roads blaring lights and sirens when it’s highly likely that the situation may only call for a Chief Officer to check things out. The situation can worsen when we dispatch several neighboring departments at the same time because we are scared of the liability if something is actually burning and not enough of our members show up. 

We are not suggesting that the volunteer fire service is outdated. The volunteer fire service has provided and can continue to provide a valuable service to our communities. We are not suggesting that a career countywide or state fire service is best suited for every area. We are also not advocating for the closing of any fire or EMS stations. What we are suggesting is that we can no longer continue to kick the can down the road and avoid change, because change is necessary. As a collective emergency services community, we need to act. We need to look under the hood and understand how our organization is structured. We need to examine when it was formed, how it was formed, by what authority, and who the AHJ is. We need to immediately conduct a community vulnerability assessment and define what the needs of our communities are today and what they will look like in the next 5 to 10 years. We need to talk to our neighbors and see where we align and where we differ. Finally, we need to look at all the various options for organization and determine which would serve us best moving forward.     

Several of the state and national organizations representing emergency service agencies and responders have teamed up and begun working on a template to walk you through the evaluation process, explain the options, and offer proposals to build a sustainable plan to move your organization ahead. One size does not fit all, but many of the concepts are the same. Our hope is that you will look within your four walls and then outside of your four walls to figure out what is best for you and your community.  

For more information about this exciting project and opportunity please reach out to ddenniston@afdsny.org. We will continue to share details and additional information as the resources emerge.