After working a 24-hour shift at Okaloosa Emergency Medical Services, Steven Moxley headed to his second job as a volunteer firefighter with the Florosa Fire Control District.
He spent most of the day checking equipment with nine of the station’s 25 firefighters. He then settled in for the night shift.
“Sleep is overrated,” Moxley said from one of the station’s three couches that serve as the sleeping quarters.
Moxley’s day is not unique among volunteer firefighters. They hold down regular jobs, many as paid firefighters, paramedics or EMTs. They spend their own time training, taking shifts and responding to calls.
Of the 30,145 fire departments in the United States in 2011, about 25,730 were all-volunteer and mostly volunteer, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
Almost 20 departments in Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton counties are manned by volunteers who risk their lives to protect the people for no pay and no benefits.
“The only thing voluntary is filling out the application,” said Florosa Fire Chief Mark Lee. “Everything else is mandatory.”
The need to be active
With a decent-sized population and U.S. Highway 98 running through the district, Florosa stays busy with about 500 calls a year, Lee said.
He has considered hiring part-time firefighters during the day, but faces budget constraints.
Although Florosa has about 25 firefighters on its roster, only about 12 are active members. Lee considers firefighters active when they come to training sessions, respond to calls and take shifts at the station.
He could use 10 or 15 more to spread out the work.
See photos of Florosa's training exercise Saturday. >>
One challenge is that employers in the past were more willing to let a volunteer firefighter respond to an emergency.
“It’s just changing times,” Lee said. “It’s not a tight-knit community anymore.”
Still, the department’s lack of full-time employees can be a benefit.
While full-time departments are limited in the number of staff they can hire or have on a shift, it isn’t unusual for Florosa to make up half of the firefighters at an emergency scene outside the district.
“That makes or breaks a structure fire,” Lee said.
Although Florosa primarily is funded through property assessments, it depends on grants and donations to supplement its cash flow.
Fire officials have their eye on building a new station in the coming years. The district has bought land to build one with more storage, workout accommodations, larger vehicle bays, office space and actual sleeping quarters.
“We’ve outgrown this one,” Lee said. “This new station would meet the needs of the community for the next 50 years.”
Part of the community
Not all volunteer fire departments are as busy as Florosa.
The northern portions of Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton counties are sprinkled with small, rural departments.
Some may average 100 calls a year, or just one or two a week.
The Argyle Volunteer Fire District just east of DeFuniak Springs averages about one call a day, Fire Chief Jonathan Day said. The district has three stations and nine trucks.
The Argyle district is about 95 square miles, so response times vary. On average it’s about 5 minutes, Day said.
Many of the 25 firefighters keep a first responder bag with them, Day said. Some even take a fire truck home.
The median salaries for a full-time firefighter and a paramedic in 2010 were $45,250 and $30,360 a year, respectively, according the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Argyle volunteers receive $10 for each call they respond to, thanks to a grant, Day said. But that stipend doesn’t even begin to repay them for their work.
“It’s basically free labor,”Day said.
Argyle’s firefighters serve to protect their friends, family, and neighbors, Day said.
“We’re part of the community.”
Worth the effort
Victoria Green can’t remember a time when she didn’t want to be a Baker volunteer firefighter.
Green 25, joined the department almost a year ago and is working on completing everything she needs to be a volunteer firefighter in Florida: certification in EMS first responder and Firefighter I. She completed her first responder course last year, so she has the basic emergency aid knowledge to respond to medical calls.
Working where you live has disadvantages, namely the possibility of responding to the death of a close friend or relative, Green said. It hasn’t happened to her, so she tries to focus on the positives.
“It’s nice to be able to go on a call and help somebody you know and get close to your community,” she said.
She will finish classes this year in basic firefighting skills and tactics, fire investigation, safety and more.
The classes are twice a week for three hours each. Sometimes she has a Saturday class if there is live-burn training.
Until she completes her certification, she needs her commanding officer’s approval to go on a real fire call. Even then, she can’t enter a building or any other area designated IDLH — Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health.
In addition to classes, Green attends weekly training sessions the fire district sponsors.
Volunteer firefighters are required to complete 206 hours of training each year.
It can be hard to make it to the classes and training after a long day, but it’s worth it, Green said.
“You just know that you’re there to save somebody’s life.”