Jan. 28—Proposals aimed at boosting recruitment and retaining volunteer firefighters across the state by Gov. Kathleen A. Hochul are being lauded as good first steps by fire chiefs and emergency services officials across the north country.

In her State of the State on Jan. 10, Gov. Hochul outlined her efforts to combat declining numbers in volunteer fire departments across New York, where 76% of departments have reported a decrease in volunteers in recent years. Volunteer fire departments provide coverage to 9.1 million New Yorkers, approximately 46% of the population, according to the governor.

"Volunteer firefighter numbers have been declining since 1998," she wrote in her address. "There has been an increase in the number of service calls despite this decline. Between 1997 and 2020, there was a 29% increase in fire incidents in New York. This combination has led to major resource strains on fire departments, which have subsequently created an increase in mutual aid calls, in which the 'home' department must call on a neighboring department to help, straining the resources of not only our volunteer departments but also our career fire departments."

Gov. Hochul outlined two proposals to strengthen volunteer fire services. The first was legislation to allow communities to pay modest compensation to eligible volunteer firefighters. The second was to create a fund to pay a stipend to volunteer firefighters upon completion of certain foundational training or certification required for core responsibilities. The stipend would also decrease "some trainees' wage losses while training."

"It's a good beginning. It's a good start," said St. Lawrence County Emergency Services director Matthew R. Denner Sr. in trying to bring volunteers in the county's fire departments back up to historic numbers.

In regards to allowing municipalities the option to provide compensation to its firefighters, Mr. Denner said that Canadian volunteer firefighters receive similar compensation for their efforts on a yearly basis and it helps retain firefighters.

"Canadian firefighters are pretty much employees of the municipality. There are certain criteria they have to meet, they have to answer so many calls, attend meetings and so on in order to be eligible for the stipend they get paid," Mr. Denner said. "The municipality funds those stipends and they become employees of the municipality."

Mr. Denner does question whether having municipalities provide compensation, while worthy, is practical when most towns and villages already have tight annual budgets.

"How do you do that here? The town and village budgets are thin. If you have 40 members in a fire department and you pay them a $1,000 stipend, that's $40,000. How many municipalities can pay that much out?" Mr. Denner said.

He said the state providing stipends for new firefighters completing their training courses is a good way to help recruit those who may have been on the edge of deciding whether to become a firefighter.

"Absolutely it's going to help. It's going to draw in some good, quality firefighters," Mr. Denner said.

In the St. Lawrence County town of Morristown, Fire Chief Jay Moore says that the proposals could possibly help with recruitment of younger firefighters.

"We are not seeing as many younger folks step up. Our department is getting old. Our department is aging and we are not seeing a lot of younger generations stick around," Mr. Moore said, adding, "Maybe this stipend will help with that."

Morristown now has 38 active members who responded to 609 calls in 2022. Mr. Moore said that the state proposals could help with the slight decrease in volunteers the department has seen over the years.

"Anything that can be done to compensate these guys for their countless hours of training and dedication to the service will go a long way," Mr. Moore said. "I really do believe any bit that we can give to these men and women who risk their lives day in and day out in terms of compensation would help with recruitment."

In Carthage, there are 25 volunteers in its fire department with three paid drivers. Those numbers have held steady at around 20 for the past five years. While members of the U.S. Army at Fort Drum help the numbers in Carthage, they tend to leave after a stretch of several years, according to Fire Chief Brian J. Draper.

He called the proposals by Gov. Hochul a "major step forward."

"In this day and age volunteering is not what it was 20 years ago. A lot of places have to shorten hours and services where people are employed. How are volunteer organizations supposed to thrive when place where people are paid aren't? Young people today, if they volunteer, want to get something out of it," Mr. Draper said.

While stipends may help draw some new members, Lowville Fire Chief Joseph A. Austin contends that it's more of a time issue getting volunteers than it's a money issue. But he said it's worth a shot to help struggling departments.

"You have to look where the money is coming from. If it's passed on to the fire department funds from contracts that's already stretched. It may be a good thing for recruitment," Mr. Austin said. "There's not much incentive — you get a cool hat, work all hours of the night and not paid. Retention may be a little better. Gauging that they are now doing it for free it may incentivize some people. I don't know if pay will solve the problem, it's a time issue.

He said Lowville has 72 active firefighters. That number is lower than when he joined 15 years ago. At that time there was a waiting list to get into the Lowville department.

Town of Watertown Fire Chief David E. Johnston said he is optimistic about the potential for firefighters to receive a stipend, but added that there is a lot that needs to happen in order for it to become a reality.

"In my opinion, Hochul has big visions, and I applaud that it's being talked about, but I don't foresee it happening anytime soon, unfortunately," he said.

The fire chief said that the state constitution doesn't allow for volunteer firefighters to be compensated.

"So, there's a lot that needs to change," Mr. Johnston said.

He said that he and the town are currently working to get a job description for firefighters so that it would allow for them to hire paid firefighters.

He said they have run "into a roadblock" with that, however, due to the state Civil Service Commission being short on help, which slows the process down getting back to counties.

"We are being proactive in this," he said.

But Mr. Johnston said it could take over a year to get it established, which he called "frustrating."

In Jefferson County, there is no job description that says firefighter. There is a job description for a fire driver, but that person is not allowed to fight fires.

Watertown's Civil Service Commission is different than the county's and allows the city to have paid firefighters. Mr. Johnston added that the fire district is in good shape financially.

He said that retail space, including the Salmon Run Mall, is extremely important to them. Two years ago, a special tax district was created in the town on outer Arsenal Street. The district affects businesses only, and goes out Arsenal Street across Route 202 and into the Industrial Park. A higher tax rate was implemented on those businesses to help generate income for the fire department.

Mr. Johnston thinks the stipend could end up helping with recruitment, but it is "yet to be seen."

"I would wishfully hope that it would make an impact, I don't see how it couldn't," he said.

Twenty-six years ago, when Mr. Johnston joined the department, they had more than 90 volunteers. That number is now 40, he said.

In his five years as fire chief, only two members went through all the training and stayed on board. He said there are varying reasons for this.

"We are in a little bit of an uptick right now in the town of Watertown and I'm super grateful for that and extremely happy about that, but as I stated we're being proactive and we are going the direction of hiring paid firefighters," he said.

He added that he wants local politicians to be more involved with the dynamics of volunteer fire services in Jefferson County.

Northpole Fire Chief Joe Wargo, who says his department has around 37 members, applauded the governor noticing the problem, but said there is much work to be done.

"I applaud the governor for her efforts in even trying to devise plans and ideas and strategies to come up to do this but I don't know what that's actually going to look like when it gets passed," he said. "I remain cautiously optimistic."

He said that regardless of what incentives are out there for volunteers, or what could potentially be made available, something needs to be done in order to get people to volunteer again.

Mr. Wargo said some people have jobs that they can't leave in order to go fight a fire.

"A teacher just can't leave their classroom," he said. "Again, I applaud the governor for trying to come up with ideas and strategies to try to incentivize people to join fire departments, but I think we need to look at why people don't want to commit. Is it time? Is it financial?"

The number of volunteer firefighters has stayed relatively the same at Northpole. Mr. Wargo said they have been in the mid-30s for some time now.

He said increasing numbers will depend on how well any incentives work.

Mr. Wargo thinks the $300 tax credit, which is currently offered to volunteer firefighters, isn't enough to bring more people in.