Making a real difference on Shelter Island: Fire Department seeks volunteers

At 1:45 p.m. on a winter afternoon, at the height of a blizzard, the call came in: A house was on fire on Penny’s Path in Longview. A neighbor living diagonally across the street had looked out to see flames leaping through the sheets of snow from the attached garage of the one-story house.

A middle-aged man and woman and a woman in her 20s, at home when the fire started, took refuge with neighbors.

The blaze in January 2016 eventually took two hours to put out, with 40 Island firefighters on the attack. Greenport Fire Department volunteers assisted at the scene and the Sag Harbor Fire Department manned the Center firehouse in case another emergency call came in while the fire in Longview was being fought.

The point of origin for the fire was a gasoline-powered generator being operated by one of the residents. The structure, in Fire Department terminology, was “fully engaged” with fire when the first responders arrived on the scene.

The garage was gutted by the blaze, as well as part of the kitchen, with smoke damage throughout the rest of the house.

But it wasn’t the only time that day Island firefighters would be on Penny’s Path. That evening, as the blizzard continued with snow-driven gales, husband and wife Stewart Mackie and Tamsin Roe had kept their fireplace going all day.

At one point,  Tamsin said she smelled smoke. Initially, they thought it was from the fireplace, but then, looking in the basement they saw smoke. A fire had started by embers from their firebox seeping through cracks in the floor. They called 911 and the Shelter Island Fire Department (SIFD) was on the scene in minutes.

“The firefighters told us if we hadn’t called we’d be jumping out of the window to save ourselves and our house would have burned to the ground,” Mr. Mackie said.

It was a crucial moment for the British-born Sylvester Manor employee, who with Ms. Roe had moved to the Island after several years as vacationers and second homeowners. The fire in their home, and the one across the street, inspired Mr. Mackie to volunteer for the SIFD.

“I was amazed at the firefighters, their calmness, expertise and competence,” he said. “I wanted to give back to them, and the Island. I wanted to be part of it.”

Since then, he’s been an active member, answering calls, participating in Department events, and always proud of his fellow volunteers and the invaluable work they do. 

This is a crucial time for volunteers to join up to protect their neighbors and serve the Island as a whole. According to the Firefighters Association of the State of New York, staffing at volunteer fire departments has fallen by 20,000 in the last decade.

Former fire commissioner and still an active member of the SIFD Larry Lechmanski, has seen the steady drop in volunteers throughout his career. He volunteered in 1976, and said in 1980 there were 103 members of the Heights Department and 70 in the Center Department. (The two departments merged into one in 1998.) “That’s a total of 173,”  Mr. Lechmanski said. “Today, we have 62.”

The reasons for the fall-off in volunteers are several, he said, most importantly, the lack of affordable housing. “And if you’ve got a place, you’re working two or three jobs” to make ends meet, he said. “Young people can’t afford to live here.”

Then there’s the training regulations. “There’s just not enough time to work, train and sleep in 24 hours,” Mr. Lechmanski said. “You just can’t do it.” He noted that in 2007-2008, 13 Islanders volunteered to serve. “Do you know how many are still with the Department?” he asked. “Two.”

Mr. Mackie remembers his training as “two weeks of boot camp” at the Suffolk County Fire Academy in Yaphank, which included days divided into classroom studies and hands-on training, and additional training throughout the year.

But those days could be gone. New Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) revisions the agency would like to impose on volunteer fire departments and emergency medical service units are slated to be much more time-consuming and, according to SIFD officials, more onerous on volunteers and the community.

At a recent Town Board meeting, Fire Commissioner Andy Reeve asked for help from the members. “We’re not against safety,” Mr. Reeve told the Board. But implementation of the proposal “would be detrimental” to the SIFD. “This would devastate the Fire Department,” he said. “This is coming down soon and we’re appealing to the Town Board to write a letter in opposition.”

Currently, standards call for firefighters to take 100 hours of training per year. The new proposal would require between 300 and 400 hours of training annually. Now, for Island firefighters, training means traveling to Yaphank or farther at night after working their day jobs. The training proposed by OSHA isn’t offered in Yaphank, so a program would have to be established.

With many experienced firefighters advancing in age, they’ve acknowledged they can no longer do some of the work they once handled. Recruiting younger members is difficult because many work off-Island and simply don’t have the time for the demands of the existing intensive training.

Also, equipment that would be required under the new proposal would be expensive.

The proposal would require every Island business owner to provide a written inventory of what they have on their property and information about any hazardous materials they store, so SIFD personnel could determine special needs if a fire breaks out.

Homeowners would be required to provide an annual written professional report to be used by the SIFD in preparing a plan if there’s a fire in any structure. To complete any of these requirements could mean having to hire four professional firefighters and a professional chief to even begin to address the requirements, Mr. Reeve speculated.

He anticipated it could cost millions of taxpayer dollars.

Firefighters would have to meet health and fitness requirements with a mandated fitness program in place. New operational standards would have to be implemented. Officers would have to take special command training and annually demonstrate they remained qualified for the job.

The public comment period on the OSHA proposal is open through June 6, and Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams said she thought a letter in opposition to the proposal might be written by the Suffolk County Supervisors Association.

The National Volunteer Fire Council has issued a statement saying if the OSHA proposal is enacted, it “would bring immense challenges to volunteer departments, and some may be forced to shut down.”

But often obscured by the negative aspects are the positive rewards of volunteering. Mr. Lechmanski pointed out the Length of Service Award Programs (LOSAP), which is, in effect, an earned pension system, which kicks in after age 65.

Under LOSAP, volunteers earn benefits by performing activities, Mr. Lechmanski said, such as answering a certain number of emergency calls and attending drills and training sessions. In addition, points are awarded for community service such as the annual Chicken Barbecue, Steak Dinner and the Country Fair.

And there are other rewards, the veteran SIFD volunteer said. “You can come home sometimes and think: ‘We saved someone’s house. We helped someone today.’”

To get information on volunteering, contact Fire District Secretary Michael Johnson at 631-749-3369. Chief Dan Rasmussen also said to simply ask any member of the Fire Department. Next week: Volunteering for the Shelter Island Emergency Medical Services.