Don’t Treat a Volunteer Fire Company Like a Business

Volunteer fire companies continue to be a necessity across the United States to keep costs down for taxpayers. However, some communities struggle to find the balance between providing cost-effective public safety and promising residents that well-trained and professional responders will be there to help them.

The sources of the problems typically are different from community to community, but the overall problem remains the same: It’s difficult to recruit new folks to be trained in courses that can span hundreds of hours just to bring about minimal qualification.

Finances typically are a struggle, too, and it can be difficult to convince elected officials that just because a service is volunteer doesn’t mean that it’s free.

It also is bluntly true that volunteer fire companies can be a little different organizationally than career fire departments, because all who are there serve on their own time. It’s time that’s spent away from families, friends and jobs to fundraise, train and run a firehouse that protects people who they might not even know.

For all of these reasons, we must stop treating volunteer fire companies as if they are businesses.

That statement might make some cringe. It even might seem as if we all should take it easy on fire companies because “they have it so hard.” That isn’t at all the purpose behind the statement. Volunteer fire companies must be held to a high standard. Residents and taxpayers must know that their firefighters are equipped and prepared to respond to any incident to which they are dispatched.

Elected officials must hold these fire companies accountable for the money that’s allocated to them and that personnel issues are handled according to policy. However, running a fire company as if it’s a business might not be the most effective way to retain people who the fire company worked so tirelessly to recruit.

Policies

It’s essential that all fire departments and companies have policies that stipulate how certain situations and incidents will be handled. Of course, each fire company determines what policies fit it best.

Typically, fire companies have by-laws that indicate how their overall organization will operate, such as positions to be filled, how meetings will be run and who can handle money within the company. Fire companies also should have standard operating guidelines/procedures (SOGs/SOPs) that explain in as detailed a way as possible how incidents will be handled, from structure fires to vehicle accidents to potential exposures and so forth.

The purpose of these policies isn’t for the policies to be read during a call. It’s so all personnel are aware of and train on the expectations of the leaders who created the policies, because it’s in the best interest of the company from an organizational risk perspective and for firefighter safety.

Fire companies also might opt for a member handbook. It can add a nice touch for new members by explaining history, indicating who to go to for certain issues or questions and informing of expectations on firehouse behavior, technology use, parking, etc. Basically, the handbook fills the gaps organizationally where by-laws and SOGs/SOPs don’t go.

Personnel issues

These issues typically are very sensitive to volunteer fire companies for many reasons, and they reflect a significant difference between the volunteer world and career departments.

At work, if you violate company policy, you can be disciplined with or without pay, suspended or terminated. At the volunteer level, suspension without pay obviously isn’t an option. So, immediately, serious offenses go to either warnings (verbal or written), suspensions or even permanent expulsion from the company. That said, the reason that these issues can be so sensitive is because volunteers of a given firehouse often are neighbors, close friends, relatives, immediate family members who live in the same home or potential foes that have decades of bad-relationship histories.

It’s important that volunteer fire companies address personnel situations quickly, appropriately and to the extent that’s warranted.

The first step in getting personnel decisions right is coming up with a disciplinary policy that’s developed by company leadership but is shared and approved by the fire company body. It creates buy-in from a majority, awareness about what will happen if someone steps out of line and metaphorical lanes for people to stay in if someone does violate fire company policy. This is important, because a given person could fill two or three roles on both the operations and administrative sides of the company. So, if the president of the company is on a call and sees someone violate company policy, is it appropriate for the president to suspend or warn the policy-violator in a written way? Many people likely would say no.

That’s why the next step is to create a disciplinary committee. The committee should consist of administrative and operations leadership, so the company can take a coordinated and balanced approach to organizational discipline and personnel decisions. The creation of a disciplinary committee also protects the company from a situation in which one company-level leader unilaterally suspends another company-level leader. These incidents can stem from irrelevant personal issues that are gouged open because someone crossed a line or actually violated company policies. On the back end, if any of these situations are handled inappropriately or in an unjust or unfair way, your fire company could face a costly lawsuit.

It also is important to let situations die down before handling them, unless it’s a life-safety issue where someone must be suspended immediately before someone is injured or killed. The moment that an incident happens, decide whether that person must be suspended because of the seriousness of the incident. If not, it’s best practice to write a document: a printed paper that states the report of the issue and the date, to explain to the committee what happened; an email of the same nature; or a mailed/registered letter of the same nature. This provides time for all parties to calm down, take a step back and detach from the situation on an emotional level. Some fire companies might opt to have the person who is the subject of the potential discipline stay away from the firehouse until that individual’s committee meeting, when that person’s side of the story can be shared. The committee must then decide, according to disciplinary policy, what is a warranted disciplinary action, if necessary.

Keep in mind, the harsher that the company is on a person, the more likely that the individual will quit and never come back. So, find the balance of what is worth it and what isn’t. As difficult as it might be, you must put your personal issues aside.

Finances

The word “policy” might seem to be getting old at this point, but it holds true for how volunteer fire companies should approach financial operations as well and for a lot of the same reasons that already are mentioned. At the risk of sounding repetitive, volunteer fire companies are different from career departments.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are stolen from volunteer fire companies each year by their own members. The method of theft can range from fraud, to the taking of physical money that’s kept in the firehouse, to theft by deception. It is critical to have strict policies regarding who can handle actual notes, who can spend money, who has access to firehouse inventory, credit card users, and who has access to bank accounts and investment accounts in your company’s finance policy or by-laws.

The stricter that your policies are and the more accountability that’s required from your members, the less likely that money will be stolen. Some fire companies have worked determinedly for decades to build up what money and investments that they have. It’s difficult work, particularly as equipment gets exponentially more expensive each year.

One of the easiest ways to build a risk-management strategy around almost any area of risk in your firehouse is to talk to your insurance carrier on the policies and procedures that it would like to see, so you minimize risk to you and the insurance company if an incident were to occur.

Some things that the insurance company might suggest are:

• Two approved signers sign each check for payments
• Auto-pay monthly and quarterly expenses, so they read easily in financial reports and regular amounts easily are seen
• Relatives or members of the same household can’t have the same financial authority; for example, a husband, who is the fire chief, and his wife, who is the vice president of the company, both can’t have authority to sign checks, access bank accounts, etc.; this prevents a coordinated approach to theft and fraud
• Requiring invoices be provided for any credit card charges
• Create company-invoiced accounts, so credit cards, checks and physical notes aren’t needed as much

Community partnerships

Just because the letters and numbers on your apparatus indicate that your company is completely volunteer doesn’t mean that you get a pass for professionalism and the level of service that you provide to your community. Residents probably don’t care what color the fire truck is or who arrives first when they call 9-1-1. They called because they are likely in one of the darkest times of their life, and they can’t help themselves. It’s your job to have your equipment ready, to know your job and your role, and to be courteous and professional at all times (particularly when you wear your company’s insignia on your automobile or your person).

The risk of poor decision-making, poor planning or lack of professionalism can cost you your position, your company’s donations from the community, personnel availability and, worse, someone’s life.

Take pride in your work. Make sure that you represent your volunteer fire company well at all times. If you list your volunteer efforts in your social media accounts, every post that you make could be taken as a representation of your fire company. Any personal decisions that are poor could poorly reflect on your organization. You are a role model, an expected helper. Lead by example and make good choices.

A position to succeed

The volunteer fire service faces challenges across the nation. We must stop treating and running fire companies as if they are businesses and treat them for what they are: volunteer organizations. At the end of the day, the truth is that volunteer fire companies face situations that can become very personal because of those who serve in each firehouse.

Competing with career departments must end. We all must work together, because we all want to help people. We just have different approaches to getting there. In addition, career departments operate differently, which means that their personnel and financial operations will be handled differently.

Set your volunteer company up for success and keep the people who you have. It’s difficult to replace those who leave because of unwarranted discipline or ineffective company procedures.