Swormville firefighters educate town officials
by ELIZABETH TAUFA Reporter

"Your neighbors, co-workers and friends, helping you when you need it."

That statement was emphasized in a presentation by members of the Swormville Fire Company on Sept. 26.

The presentation, entitled "What Actually Goes on at Your Local Volunteer Fire Department," was directed toward local government officials.

Attending the presentation were Amherst Town Supervisor Satish Mohan, Clarence Town Supervisor Kathy Hallock, and all members of the Clarence Town Board.

The purpose of the presentation was to educate the officials on the inner workings of a volunteer fire company and how taxpayers' money is spent.

The Swormville Fire Company, which operates one station with two trucks, one ambulance and one rescue truck, is responsible for approximately 15 square miles of Clarence and Amherst, an area with about 7,200 people.

Training is the largest part of being a volunteer firefighter. Approximately 90 percent of a volunteer firefighter's time is spent training, according to John J. Gaulocher, president of the Swormville company.

In the first year, a firefighter must complete a 78-hour course in addition to answering 40 percent of the calls to the fire company.

The presentation also emphasized the mutual aid services provided by Swormville and other fire companies in the area.

Gaulocher stressed the importance of having a working relationship with other fire companies because of the shared equipment and availability of back-up teams.

"Mutual aid is important," he said. "There aren't many fires around, but when there are, equipment is important."

He also joked that despite what people see in parades, there is not an overabundance of fire trucks in any one area.

Another important part of mutual aid is the FAST team.

"The FAST team stands by to go in and get fallen firefighters," said Brandon Houck, Swormville fire chief. He emphasized that a FAST team should come from an area farther away from the primary responding fire company to ensure that, should another emergency arise, there is a fire company nearby to respond.

Fire companies must also be standing by when a neighboring fire company is responding to an emergency that may take an extended period of time to manage.

Companies are also responsible for first aid calls, traffic accident response, cleanup and control, basic hazardous material handling, water and ice rescue, community CPR and first aid training, and providing fire prevention programs both in-house and at schools.

The presenters stressed the large number of man hours that are given by fire company members and that all of those hours are volunteer.

"New York State is the only true state of volunteer firefighters left in this country," said Michael P. Wutz, president of the Fireman's Association of New York.

According to the presentation, last year, Swormville collectively spent 1,068 hours on fire calls, 3,432 hours on emergency medical service calls, 2,636 hours doing drills, 192 hours standing by for other fire companies, 1,056 hours on work detail, such as cleaning trucks, and 6,250 hours doing administrative work, which includes the Sept. 26 presentation.

Gaulocher said these are all volunteer hours. In order for a fire company to be able to

run, every part of the company, from equipment to firefighters, must meet standards set by the Insurance Service Organization, the company that sets the insurance rates and premiums for a fire hall; the National Fire Protection Association, which sets rules and regulations by which the ISO will measure the fire hall; and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which checks the breathing apparatus and give physicals to the firefighters.

"There are no luxury costs in our budget," said Garry F. Diagler, a member of the Swormville board of directors. "When you have a no-frills budget, you have to make it."

The conclusion of the presentation, given by Albert J. Weiser, also a member of the board of directors, emphasized the difficulty in keeping fire companies such as Swormville manned, especially during the day.

Also emphasized was the amount of money that taxpayers save with volunteer firefighters as opposed to paid ones.

"The volunteers, if paid, would cost taxpayers an estimated $37 billion per year," Weiser said, noting that there are around 807,900 volunteer firefighters in the United States.