Local departments join forces to create youth firefighter cooperative

CADYVILLE | Firefighters: they're the backbone of the community. They're the people who show up when an emergency is happening and who people call when they need help. A community can always count on its local fire department to help, but over the last decade, fire department volunteers have been declining. "So we probably had an average of 40 members with half of them interior guys, 20/25 interior guys. I would- in the last 10 years [say] we've been declining," Cadyville Fire Department Rescue Captain and Fire Commissioner Jeff Favaro stated. Cadyville isn't the only local fire department that's losing volunteers though, they all are. When Saranac Fire Department Deputy Chief James Canning joined his department in 1992, he was number 99 on the roster out of 100 possible members. Now, the department only has 12 to 18 active members. "It's just been a steady decline over the years," Canning said. Morrisonville Fire Chief Shawn Favreau says the drop in volunteers is due to the generation gap. He said, "Fifty percent of the members that are in a fire department is a father to a son to a son to a grandfather, whatever. It's a family member that belongs and right now there's a generation gap and it's not there. It won't come around again until probably another 15 to 20 years that generation thing. Like my kid won't have a kid ready to be a firefighter until another 18/20 years from now." "We don't know where to turn, you know, we're a dying breed," said the Cadyville fire commissioner. Mutual aid has been a big help for the local departments in the last couple of years and as a result, the Cadyville Fire Department, Dannemora Fire Department, Morrisonville Fire Department, and Saranac Fire Department have grown into an extended family. It was during these joint calls that the departments started talking about the volunteer shortage and trying to come up with solutions for it when the Cadyville Rescue Captain had an idea. "I had the brainstorm of, why don't we put all of our kids together and train them all at once instead of trying to train just a couple, you know, a couple [of] kids here and there," the Cadyville Rescue Captain recalled. One thing led to another and the North Country Cooperative Junior Firefighter Program was formed. This program is split into two sections 14/15-year-olds and 16/17-year-olds and will teach them the basics of firefighting. The younger section will focus on more learning and training while the older section will receive more hands-on experience. "Just give them that slight introduction and see how it goes, you know. A lot of schools in other states are starting to do EMT programs at 17/18 now right at schools and this is just trying to drop it in their mind...," Corey Bellinger, a lieutenant with the Saranac Fire Department, said. CPR, basic first aid, basic knot tying, and hose training are just some of the skills participants will learn in this program. Every participant in the North Country Cooperative Junior Firefighter Program will be trained together. Additionally, they will be allowed to attend training at their respective departments if it's a skill they're allowed to learn at their age level. "And then we're going to do some fun things with them. I got some old bowling pins out of North Bowl and we'll do hose rolling bowling," said Favaro. Not only will participants gain invaluable life skills and knowledge, but it's also a chance to help the people who are always there for the community in their time of need. "Because the number of calls is going up and up and up… and the number of personnel is getting less and less," Dannemora Fire Chief Nick Pain said on why people should join the program. The program will also prepare students for becoming full-time members once they turn 18, making the training they have to go through easier. "...it will help them in their first initial training, it won't be overwhelming," the Morrisonville fire chief explained. Individuals interested in joining this program can apply any Monday after 6 p.m. at any of the participating fire departments. A parent or guardian will need to be present to sign the paperwork.

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Local departments join forces to create youth firefighter cooperative

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