Four of Vashon fire department's volunteers, including the volunteer coordinator, have left recently, drawing concern from some about the state of the volunteer program, but department management says the program is the strongest it has been in years.
Vashon Island Fire & Rescue (VIFR) responded to 1,603 calls for service in 2015, a record, according to VIFR Chief Hank Lipe. While the call volume increases every year, the department has struggled to maintain a roster of reliable and qualified volunteers who are on-island to respond as needed. While recently departed volunteer coordinator Ross Copland made strides in recruitment, more than half of the department's volunteers still live off-island. VIFR Assistant Chief George Brown said the department currently has 44 volunteers, 20 of whom live on Vashon.
The total number also includes 11 "resident volunteers," those who may or may not live on the island, but serve a minimum of one 24-hour shift every week. During such shifts, the volunteers stay in department housing.
"This year, the resident volunteers really took off," Brown said last week. "That speaks a lot to Ross' efforts with reinvigorating the program."
Brown also said that 30 people were interviewed this week for volunteer positions; and a maximum of 10 of them will be put into the volunteer training program and be ready to respond to calls in six months to one year. The department has also begun a search for a new volunteer coordinator after losing Copland and another volunteer to firefighting jobs in Texas.
Copland was one of six firefighter or emergency medical technician (EMT) volunteers who both live and work on the island. While the department has 20 volunteers who live on Vashon, once volunteers who work off-island are taken into consideration, 16 remain. Without Copland, five of those 16 are firefighters or EMTs; the rest are support volunteers who can drive the department's vehicles, but cannot respond in any other capacity.