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Firefighter recruiting efforts in St. Lawrence County and around state picking up momentum

Posted 7/13/12

The Firemen's Association of the State of New York has just concluded the second semester of FASNY HELP, its community college tuition reimbursement program for firefighters faced with demanding …

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Firefighter recruiting efforts in St. Lawrence County and around state picking up momentum

Posted

The Firemen's Association of the State of New York has just concluded the second semester of FASNY HELP, its community college tuition reimbursement program for firefighters faced with demanding training regimes and expenses.

It has been evident for some years that the number of volunteer firefighters statewide has been moving in the wrong direction.

“It was also clear that something had to be done on a large scale,” said Edwards Fire Chief and FASNY Assistant Volunteer Programs Director Dale Barker. Armed with this knowledge, last year FASNY applied for and secured a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant. In the year since then FASNY has attacked the problem on a number of fronts.

“An increasing number of firefighters are benefiting from this opportunity and we expect this trend to continue. If you know a volunteer who is attending community college in New York, please send them our way. We may just be able to lighten their financial burden of getting a college degree.”

For local fire departments to efficiently help at the local level, each department must do its part, Barker said. This includes designating a recruitment coordinator, submitting fire department information and a volunteer profile for every new recruit they get. The database is growing, but FASNY says it needs this information from every department for them to meet our SAFER goals.

While the statewide recruitment and retention effort continues to pick up momentum, the next component of plan is about to be implemented. In keeping with the goal of assisting and supporting departments on the local level, a “Train The Recruiter” initiative will send trained individuals into the field to conduct recruitment and retention seminars for every department recruiter across the state.