SENATE WANTS FREE COLLEGE TO LURE VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS

Senator Bruno meets with Dick Davis, Assistant Chief of the Round Lake Fire Department, outside the Capitol Building

Proposal to Pay SUNY/CUNY Tuition; Adds Funds for Safety/Readiness

Wednesday, March 21, 2001

Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, Senator James L. Seward, Chairman of the Senate Task Force on Emergency Volunteer Services, Senators Kenneth P. LaValle, James S. Alesi and members of the Senate Majority today unveiled a plan to boost the ranks of firefighter and ambulance volunteers by offering free college tuition to new recruits.

The Senate Majority plan also seeks to improve safety and readiness of the state's volunteer fire and ambulance corps by reviving the state's "Emergency Services Revolving Loan Fund" with $4 million in new funding to aid the purchase of state-of-the-art fire fighting equipment, fire trucks and ambulances, protective devices, and to upgrade fire stations.

The plan, part of the Senate's budget resolution approved Tuesday, provides $2.5 million to pay up to the level of SUNY or CUNY college tuition -- up to $3,400 a year that could be used at any college in New York.

To be eligible, volunteers must have served at least one year and continue to be active while attending school. It is estimated that up to 1,500 volunteers could benefit each year under the program.

"Volunteers are the lifeblood of fire companies and emergency service corps throughout the state," said Senator Bruno (R-C, Brunswick). "This plan includes an attractive financial incentive to ensure a steady supply of volunteers are available when a call for help comes in, and that when they respond they will have access to the best equipment to protect their lives while they fight to save others."

Nationally, the number of volunteer firefighters has declined 10 percent over the past 20 years, while the number of calls to volunteer fire companies rose 50 percent or more. In New York State, the number of volunteers has dropped by at least 11,000 over the past three to five years, to 109,000, according to Jim Williams, President of the Fire Association of the State of New York, a coalition of 2,000 volunteer fire and emergency service companies across the state.

"Across the country, volunteer fire and ambulance companies face growing difficulty recruiting dedicated volunteers to fill their ranks and the problem is especially acute in commuter and rural communities," said Senator Alesi (R, Monroe County), cosponsor along with Senator LaValle of a separate measure that was the basis for the Senate Majority proposal. "This measure provides the type of proven recruitment incentive that will help companies meet the demand for qualified, dedicated recruits."

"The promise of a college education is a proven inducement and appropriate reward for helping our communities," said Senator LaValle. "College education will help the volunteers not just in his personal life, but also help encourage them to become better members of their emergency service corps and their community."

A similar free tuition program was enacted in 1996 to help fill vacancies in the state's National Guard ranks. That program has benefited over 2,000 Guardsmen a year.

In addition to the free college program, the Senate plan also includes funds to purchase life-saving thermal imaging cameras for fire departments across the state.

Thermal imaging cameras allow firefighters to peer through smoke and steam to detect heat sources, such as humans who may be trapped inside a burning room or building.

The handheld devices, which cost as much as $25,000 apiece, also protect firefighters by making victim searches in dark, burning and unstable buildings quicker and more efficient, exposing them to fewer risks, such as collapsing floors and walls.

The Senate plan would seek to lower the cost of the devices to fire departments through statewide bulk purchasing and use revolving loan funds to finance the purchases.

"This state-of-the-art technology can save lives not just of fire victims, but also protect firefighters whose risky job often requires them to search throughout dangerously fire-damaged buildings to save lives," said Senator LaValle (R-C, Port Jefferson).

The revolving fund, which recycles loan repayments from fire and emergency service companies into new loans for equipment and building improvements for other departments, ran out of money in January.

Since 1995, the state has made 197 loan awards totaling more than $19 million to 80 fire districts, 60 villages, 13 towns, 11 cities and 33 not-for-profit fire and ambulance companies.

"It is a critical need in our rural areas," said Senator Seward (R-C, Milford). "Without this infusion of new funds, pending applications will be delayed until other loans are repaid and communities will have to go without the ambulances and fire trucks that save lives and meet new standards for safety."

The revolving fund is administered by the Department of State.

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