Gas Prices Deter Missouri Volunteers' Response

STRAFFORD, Mo. -- If you had an emergency, you'd probably dial 911. In many cases, some of the first people on scene would be firefighters. But when those firefighters are volunteer, it's getting tougher and tougher for them to respond to your emergency.

With gas prices close to $4 a gallon, you can imagine how much volunteer firefighters spend, often driving pickups with poor gas mileage to the fire station, sometimes several times a day, and doing it all volunteer.

Lt. Fred Osbourn has been a volunteer firefighter for 17 years, the past four with Strafford. Years ago, things were different.

"Oh, I didn't think about the gas money then," said Osbourn.

"Do you think about it now?" a reporter asked.

"Every day. Every time the tone goes off, I have to think, 'Do I have enough fuel in my tank to make it through the rest of the week after running this call?'" Osbourn said

Osbourn's paying job is a paramedic, one of the lower paying careers in the health field, and he has a family of four to think about. He says there have been times when he just couldn't respond.

"There are numerous times when I can't go on a call, and there are numerous times where, unfortunately, I may be the only one available," Osbourn said.

He knows he's not alone.

"Every one of us is in that situation," he said.

"They'll come up the next time I see them, and say, 'I'm sorry I couldn't respond last Saturday. My gas tank was on E and I only had $20 and had to make that last 'til the next pay day,'" said Strafford Fire Chief Jerry Schiman.

Schiman says he understands.

"As a volunteer, you can't force them to come," he said.

Schiman is doing what he can to save firefighters' gas money. The department begun sending one of the smaller station vehicles home with an officer each day. And it started secondary dispatching to keep multiple firefighters from responding to a scene where only two could handle the situation.

"Depending on the emergency, I'll pick the closest firefighter with the most appropriate training and send the closest two firefighters, and I'll have the others do what we call 'stage.' It means they're still ready to go," said Schiman.

The Strafford Fire Department recently asked voters to approve a partially paid department but the issue was narrowly voted down. The department says that would have guaranteed a response.

Now the question on volunteer firefighters' minds, and probably many area residents is, "What's going to happen if our volunteers don't have enough money to fill their tank so they can run their calls?" said Osbourn.

Another issue with firefighters not being able to respond to calls is the department says they lose valuable hands-on experience in situations where lives are on the line. The chief, by the way, is also volunteer and has been for 26 years.

The cost of fuel for fire department vehicles is also an issue with a tight budget. The Strafford department started buying diesel in bulk to try to save money, and also tries to get detailed information about a call before running several trucks to a scene unnecessarily.

Republished with permission of KY3-TV.