Island firefighters and emergency personnel gathered in Rockland on March 16th for the fourth annual Island Firefighter’s Forum. Sponsored by the Island Institute, the event gave participants a chance to discuss common challenges, and featured presentations by Maine Fire Training and Education and the Maine Forest Service.
Most firefighters said volunteer recruitment was the biggest challenge facing their departments. As island populations age, finding younger firefighters becomes an urgent priority. “It takes a lot of hours,” said Anne Weber of Great Diamond Island, who responds to both fires and medical emergencies.
Bruce Hensler, of Maine Fire Training and Education, said that it’s important to tailor volunteer activities to the volunteer’s skills. Physically demanding jobs, like interior attack firefighting, may attract younger volunteers, but fire departments have something for everyone, from truck-driving to bookkeeping to traffic control.
“Picking the right job is the essence of recruitment,” said Hensler.
Hensler and other training staff spoke on the challenges of providing firefighter training to remote departments, whose members often have difficulty attending sessions. One solution particularly useful for islands has been to train one or two department members as instructors (WWF Dec. 2004), and then let them train other members of their departments in their home communities.
Members of the Maine Forest Service presented information on the Wildland-Urban Interface program, which they administer in cooperation with the Island Institute. Under the program, the Forest Service conducts field assessments with help from the Island Fellows program. It then develops non-binding “community wildfire protection plans” to help guide island policies.
“It’s obvious that some of the island communities have the potential for problems should a wildfire start,” said Ranger Bill Hamilton, “mostly old spruce trees with the limbs down on the ground.”
Some island firefighting challenges are less noticeable. “I drive both the ambulance and the fire truck, and I’ve learned to be careful not to drive over anyone’s septic system,” said Richard Frantz of Great Diamond. “It sounds stupid, but you learn pretty fast where they are.”