03-25-2024 Council Meeting Packet

Home Search

Lino Lakes, Minnesota – Fire Department Analysis Page 32 Figure 12: Projected Revenue Requirements of New Department Volunteer Recruitment and Retention Without doubt one of the most significant challenges the City will face is in the recruitment and retention of volunteer fire fighters. Just within the past few weeks several newspaper stories have appeared in the Twin Cities papers outlining the challenges city governments and fire departments are having in recruiting paid on call personnel. Fire Chiefs across the state recognize the challenges of hiring and retaining new recruits, as the Inver Grove Heights Fire Chief stated, “It’s a huge commitment to be a paid on call firefighter.” Since 1985, the number of volunteer firefighters in the United States has declined by 25%, while the number of emergency calls increase each year. To address this national trend, jurisdictions must have a well-planned and high-functioning recruitment and retention program. Recruitment – Recruiting citizens to become volunteer fire/rescue responders can be a daunting task if not approached in a systematic manner. This systematic approach begins with identifying the most likely demographic groups where potential volunteers may be included. This will be an important discussion for the City and we encourage you to begin that conversation immediately. Across the country there are three emerging groups of volunteer firefighters: mothers that stay at home; college students; and empty nesters. These three groups of potential candidates are generally found in most suburban communities and Lino Lakes should explore the possibility of recruiting from these three sources. Motivating citizens to join a Fire Department is one of the largest challenges facing volunteer fire service throughout the country. It is important to find out how many of the current CFD volunteers will move to the new Lino Lakes Fire Department and then all city leaders should begin a strong and centralized recruitment effort. The future viability of a volunteer force is at stake, and should be the focus of future recruitment efforts. This will mean looking for future members in citizen groups either under-represented or not represented in the current department roster. As an example of one method worth considering, a very successful volunteer recruitment program in Virginia is recruiting over 300 new members annually. Their program begins using a page on the jurisdiction’s website, a Facebook account, and a toll-free phone number. (Social media is certainly one 38