The Department of Public Safety will begin publishing response times of volunteer companies next year. It would be an eye-opener if newspapers that run fire and ambulance call lists included the response time from initial 911 alert to arrival on the scene. Some companies would track well, some so so, and others horribly. That's why Gov. Carper should lead the way for lawmakers and the state fire commission to open a dialogue about the future of the volunteer system. New, young volunteers won't magically appear at fire-house doors next year.
Most companies are down in membership.
The trouble is a vocal minority of old-line volunteer firemen view even a discussion of the matter as an evil threat to their future as firefighters and private club members. Delaware isn't alone. In nearby Prince Georges County, Md., the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department was taken over under court order by paid county firefighters after the volunteers stopped answering ambulance calls. They said they were shortstaffed. The volunteers staffed the department at night and on weekends, an arrangement that could be an option for New Castle County.