MFD’s Recruitment Efforts Make the News

Thanks to Joan Lawrence-Bauer and the Walton Reporter for covering our recruitment day last month! We met a couple of likely recruits at the event — and to anyone who didn’t get a chance to stop by, if you’re interested in volunteering with the Margaretville Fire Department, please get in touch with us at hello@margaretvillefiredept.org.

Here’s Joan’s story, featuring a few of our department’s longest-serving veterans, and a few newer faces too:

Step into their boots! Middletown-Hardenburgh Fire District needs volunteers

MARGARETVILLE - At a height that just barely grazes five feet four inches, with big glasses and long curly hair, Jennifer Kabat is no one’s idea of a typical firefighter. The local author and college professor transplanted from far off places like London and New York is celebrating the publication of a new book this week, even as she seeks recruits to join her as a volunteer member of the Middletown-Hardenburgh Fire District (MHFD) fire police.

Lissa Harris, a journalist, bartender and mother of a teenage daughter is also among the newer members of the department. Like Kabat, no one would have expected that Harris would join the all volunteer department and become one of just eight people certified as an interior firefighter.

Kabat, who has asthma and Harris, who struggles with social environments, both said they were really scared when they first considered joining the fire volunteers. They didn’t know if they could perform, if they would fit, or if they would be accepted. Today, they are core members of what everyone describes as the fire department “family,” and spent their afternoon last Sunday, April 14, trying to entice new recruits to join them.

Sarah Hubbell, who was elected Middletown Town Clerk in November, was also on the scene in Margaretville when the department opened its doors for a serious recruitment event. While Kabat says “there is nothing about this effort that comes naturally to me,” Hubbell’s story is a bit more typical. The Second Assistant Chief and first ever female officer in the department grew up in the firefighting family, the daughter and step-daughter of two longtime members. At an early age she was hanging out at the firehouse, riding in trucks for parades and getting frequent exposure to what happens when the siren rings.

The three women eagerly showed visitors around the firehouse at a Recruit NY event designed to add new volunteer members to a roster that has dropped from 125 members with a waiting list to just 35 current members and no waiting list in little more than a decade. As the women talked about the reasons they joined and the camaraderie they feel, Chief Nelson Delameter was at work trying to complete an application for major grant funding.

Delameter says the need for new recruits has reached a critical juncture.

“It’s not just here, it’s all over the state,” said Delameter who has spent his entire life in or around volunteer fire departments. “People just don’t volunteer as much any more,” he said, adding that other social issues are also factors. “The lack of great entry level jobs means our young people leave town when they graduate and often don’t come back.”

He also noted that the lack of affordable housing for working class locals plays a part in the fact that there are few available recruits.

Asked why newcomers and second homeowners don’t join, Delameter said “It never occurs to many of them that they are being protected by all volunteer fire companies. Most of them come from cities and towns with paid firefighters,” he added. “We sure would welcome them if they would consider joining,” said Delameter, adding that even if they don’t see themselves directly battling flames there are still many things they can do to contribute to the department. “If you show up, you are welcomed and accepted,” said Delameter.

Kabat moved to the area a decade ago and fell in love with the community and its people. The idea of serving the community in some way was never far from her mind. When longtime member Francis “Frisky” Fairbairn, passed away, she saw a need to be filled.

“He was a wonderful man and it dawned on me that he had been a member of the department, often serving as fire police. I thought ‘they lost this person but maybe I could take his place.’”

Swallowing her fears, she joined. Today she loves the fact that dozens of people who may have nothing else in common, can ignore differences and even disagreements and come together over the common cause of serving their community.

“I love everyone in this department and feel like they love me. If I can do this, anyone can!”

A member of the fire police unit, Kabat says she loves when they turn out to assist with traffic at community parades and events.

“Who doesn’t want to go to a good parade?” she asks.

Delameter, who started as a volunteer in Arkville in 1972, was always interested in a career in fire service, but did not want to leave his home area and move to a place where firefighters were paid. In 1976 he was selected to become the New York State Fire Instructor for Delaware County. After becoming certified, he began training other volunteers. In 1991 Delameter became the Emergency Services and Fire Coordinator for Delaware County, but eventually returned to volunteer firefighting, and became chief of the MHFD.

Noting that his youngest members are in their mid-thirties and his oldest are in their 80s, Delameter says the average age of people turning out is 50 to 55. Of the 35, seven are women who, in days gone by, might have been members of ladies auxiliaries.

The volunteers are not just firefighters, but are the first responders for every disaster that can befall a small community. They respond to motor vehicle accidents and emergency helicopter landings and takeoffs. They fight house fires and brush fires, respond to floods and disaster spills and do other public service when other agencies are unable to respond.

The department has a monthly business meeting and another monthly meeting to keep skills fresh and acquire new skills. Each Tuesday evening members gather at the fire hall to tinker with equipment doing routine maintenance and guaranteeing that everything is in good repair and ready to roll when needed.

Don Bramley, president of the volunteer company, works for the Margaretville Telephone Company by day. He notes that property tax bills do include a small fire tax which provides some funding for fire service through municipalities.

“That helps to cover overhead, operating and some equipment costs,” says Bramley, who notes that the department makes its social hall available for use by members of the general public at virtually no cost other than a donation to the department. Grant applications help to keep the taxpayer share of costs under control. Fundraising is all done in a single week during the annual carnival they host in late June and early July, and provides everything else from uniforms and training to an annual installation dinner.

Nowhere, in any of that funding, are there any salaries for any member. So why join?

Bob Vining, a 50-year member, joined because his father did it before him and his brother George also serves.

“It’s our community,” he said. “It’s what you do.”

Vining’s wife Arlene joined a few years ago. “He was often out at night, sometimes alone,” she said. “I joined to be there too. To help and share the load.”

A brochure prepared for the event touts benefits from free training and equipment and tuition assistance and reimbursements to tax breaks, insurance coverage and scholarships. But it’s clear to anyone spending more than a few minutes in the building that camaraderie and the feeling of satisfaction one gets from serving a greater good are the most important reasons for joining.

“I’m a big dork,” said Harris. “But no matter who you are, where you’re from or what your deal is, you are welcomed and made to feel like part of the family. We find common ground in our common cause, serving the community.”

Harris, who was a founder and publisher of the Watershed Post, covered the community and the department as a journalist during Hurricane Irene. She was moved by what she saw them do in the face of disaster. When she stopped covering disasters as a reporter, it occurred to her to assist in those disasters as a volunteer.

“There are people in this department from all walks of life, from all different political views, with widely varying belief systems,” said Harris. “Yet when they walk through the door, they leave all that behind and pitch in, working together to get the job done. Where else do you find that?”

The recruitment drive is over and if they are lucky, the department will end up with two or maybe even three recruits from the effort. They say that result makes the time spent worth it. Though the day has passed, the recruiting goes on. Anyone who wants to join can show up at the fire house at 7 p.m. on a Tuesday evening drill night and ask for an application. They can also send an email to hello@margaretvillefiredept.org. An application can also be obtained by simply asking anyone who is a member of the department or by visiting the fire department booth at the annual Fireman’s Field Days Carnival in late June.