Volunteer fire halls feeling a COVID crunch as pandemic drags on
Everything from emergency response to training and fundraising has been affected
In his Come by Chance volunteer fire hall recently, Chief Duane Antle pointed at the lockers of his crew one at a time.
"Directly for the refinery, directly with the refinery, these two here, directly with the refinery, and this one here. If the refinery doesn't reopen, where do all these people go?"
Antle is worried the pandemic and its economic realities will force his firefighters to look for work outside the community.
"Am I going to lose half my people because they had to move away to work?" he asked.
Antle's main staffing concerns are linked to the status of the idled Come by Chance oil refinery but those aren't the only pandemic-related challenges to hit his fire hall. And he isn't alone — volunteer fire halls across the province are feeling COVID-induced strain.
"The biggest challenges I think I'm facing personally is recruitment and retention. We're a small community. You don't have as big a draw as some of the bigger centres to get members from," he said.
In addition to the refinery's impact, Antle said a couple other members have had to take a step back from the hall, as — because of situations at home — they cannot afford to get sick with COVID-19.
"Basically every operation, all the volunteer fire departments in the province, has been affected. Whether it be public education, firefighting response, to training," said Justin Bolt, chief of the Marystown volunteer fire department, in a phone interview with CBC News on Friday.
Bolt said it's meant a lot of adapting on the fly and he's thankful to members for their commitment and resilience through the added stress of the past months.
Hurting financially
Of this province's more than 270 fire halls, about 240 rely on some form of fundraising, according to Joe Power, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Fire Services.
"Since March, early April, since COVID hit the world, it's been hard for small fire departments to do fundraising and they depend on fundraising to put gas in their trucks, buy equipment," said Power, the chief of the Labrador City fire department.
"A lot of small fire departments throughout Newfoundland and Labrador are currently hurting financially," he said.
Power said his association has issued a plea for funding help from municipality coffers across the province. He hopes some of the federal government's restart money can make its way to fire halls and fill the fundraising gap.
Then there's the social element, which has also been lost.
Volunteer fire halls play important roles in their communities.They are often in charge of Santa Claus parades, they run community fundraisers, and they have other social events that bring members and their communities together.
In the case of his fire hall, Power said, weekly training is now once a month, and social activities like the firefighters' banquet and year-end barbecue have all been cancelled.
He's worried members may stay away when the pandemic ends.
"It's a big effect on the social aspect of things. People don't get to see their buddies anymore — there's a lot of friendships in the fire hall. It's hard on a lot of people," he said.
When it's all tallied up — the monetary issues, the lack of training, the stress and the loss of camaraderie — Power says it could mean a decrease in numbers across the board.
"It kind of worries us all in the service throughout the province that we may lose members and we may lose departments," he said.
I would think what it would look like is a heavier load put on fewer people.- Duane Antle
Looking at his own situation in Come by Chance, Antle said it may come to a point where neighbouring communities come together to try to figure out a way to pool resources.
"I would think what it would look like is a heavier load put on fewer people," he said.
"The fires are just as hot. The accidents are just as bad. If fewer people are carrying a heavier load, that's a lot to deal with in itself."