Chief: Combination fire departments face specific issues

Staffing, training and management styles — these were just some of the insights Washington Fire Chief Mike Vaughn said he gained at a five-day national conference last month.

Put on by the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the symposium in Florida dealt with issues facing volunteer and combination fire departments.

It was Vaughn’s second time at the conference, but this year, he won a $1,500 scholarship to attend.

“It’s one of the best conferences I’ve been to,” he said. “It deals with topics specific to this type of department.”

The Washington Fire Department has a paid full-time staff of eight people, according to Vaughn.

There also are about 30 volunteers, with half of those on staff for just two years or less.

With information gained at the conference, he recently has addressed some problems his department faces on a regular basis.

“Probably the best thing out of the conference was the differentials in the generational issues — how to keep the Generation X guys
satisfied at the same time keeping the baby boomers satisfied,” he said.

At the conference, Vaughn said he learned various management techniques for these age groups.

For instance, the newer generations like less structure, whereas the baby boomers like more.

“They all have different styles,” he said.

Bradd Vescogni, 29, a volunteer firefighter with the department, said he has seen firsthand the difference in generational styles.

“Your older guys, they sometimes are set in their ways with the new technology coming out,” he said.

He added the new equipment available today allows firefighters to travel further inside a burning home, and some of the older staff members are uncomfortable with it. 

On the other hand, Vescogni said he learns a great deal from the older staff.

“Back when they used to go in (a burning house) ... they could tell you from the scars on their ears the temperature in the room,” Vescogni said.

Other problems facing smaller departments were discussed at the conference.

Vaughn said the lack of a proper training facility is the biggest problem for the Washington Fire Department.

“That’s actually where we are more hard-pressed to find the answer because we don’t have facilities to train,” he said, adding that it is hard to provide quality training. “We use the parking lot at the high school quite often ... But, we need some kind of a building or structure to really be able to simulate fire conditions or fire operations.”

The conference addressed funding availability for training facilities, said Vaughn.

When he returned, Vaughn said he talked with his staff and moved forward with searching for grants, along with researching possible training locations.

He said he has even talked with neighboring departments to see if they are interested in sharing a facility. However, he has yet to approach the city about any locations.

Jason Cook, 35, also a volunteer firefighter, said a proper training facility is much-needed.

“It would benefit us greatly,” he said. “Just to get us into live fires instead of the smoke trailer would be a whole lot better.”

Added Vescogni, “If we can create a pretty similar environment as if you were going into an actual fire — you can’t get any better than that,” he said.

Finally, the differences of having a mix of both paid and volunteer staff can be difficult, said Vaughn.

“Staffing sometimes can be a problem,” he said. “The volunteers are more dedicated. Obviously, they’re not getting paid much to be up here, so they’re not doing it for the money. They’re doing it because they want to be firefighters and help their community out.”

Each year, the department budgets for Vaughn to attend the conference, although this year his expenses were covered.

He applied for the scholarship through the International Association of Fire Chiefs’ Web site.
 “It never hurts to put your name in the hat,” he said.