New York State Immediately Should Do This for Firefighters

New York State needs to make a massive change if they want to keep people safe. There are firefighters in New York state who really need this done and you do not want people to have houses that burn to the ground because you are not taking care of the firefighters in your state.

Most of the firefighters are volunteers in New York state and work for very small towns villages and municipalities where they serve their community and neighbors. Imagine having dinner and one night your husband or wife has to get up in the middle of dinner because a house around the corner is burning and they are dedicating themselves to going in and helping people get out and they will go in and put the fire out. Now imagine doing that completely unpaid.

Other things that could entice people to become volunteer firefighters:

• good tax credits
• student loan forgiveness
• equal workforce injury protection

It is time that New York state starts paying its volunteer firefighters.

In the past 25 years the amount of volunteer firefighters have slashed almost 33%.

My dad was a buffalo firefighter for the City of Buffalo for over 30 years and there were days where you wouldn't see him for a while because they would still be on scene putting out a fire or working overtime because there was a shortage of people working. Of course he was paid working in the City of Buffalo but the dedication and sacrifice is still prevalent and unmatched. According to WXXI:

Supporters hope it will help grow the number of volunteers. Those numbers have declined from 120,000 in the early 2000s to about 80,000 today, according to the Association of Fire Districts of the State of New York.

 

“Response times are increasing all across the state,” said Dave Denniston, a fire chief in Courtland County and first vice president of the association. “Volunteer agencies, through no fault of their own, have closed their doors because they could no longer sustain operations.”