Volunteer firefighters struggle for donations in Tenn. community

By Matt Lakin
The Knoxville News-Sentinel

KARNS, Tenn. — Volunteer firefighters in Karns help protect more than 14,400 homes in their West Knox County community — even though just one out of five of those homeowners chipped in with a donation last year.

"We're really strapped for funds at this time," Karns Volunteer Fire Chief Ken Marston said. "Last year, we got donations from only 20 percent of the people in our community. Those donations averaged less than $100 per person. Eleven percent of businesses donated. And you can't run a fire department on that. The money's got to come from somewhere."

The complaint's become familiar around the area. As residents work longer hours and bring home less pay, some local volunteer fire departments say donations have dried up and the fire halls have gotten emptier.

Karns firefighters began this year's fundraising campaign last week. Like most volunteer departments, they rely on donations and some limited grants to fund operations.

"It's the same everywhere," said Casey Walters, chief of the Heiskell Volunteer Fire Department in North Knox County. "Volunteers are down, and the funds are just not here."

The majority of communities around the United States still depend on volunteer fire departments, according to the National Volunteer Fire Council, which represents those departments at the national level. More than 827,000 of the nation's firefighters hail from volunteer ranks.

Those ranks have shrunk by about 8 percent over the past quarter-century, according to NVFC statistics — even as the rural communities that traditionally depend on volunteer departments have exploded with residential growth. Experts estimate demands on those departments doubled over the same period.

Marston said his firefighters responded to more than 3,500 calls last year. That's an average of about nine calls per day for a department of about 70 volunteers whose district covers 65 square miles and includes subdivisions, schools, business parks, the Ben Atchley Veterans Home and Pellissippi State Technical Community College.

The department operated on a budget of roughly $435,000 last year — including about $340,000 in residential donations and about $35,000 in donations from businesses.

"We typically pay $60,000 per year in workman's comp and insurance costs and about $45,000 in fuel costs," Marston said. "It costs roughly $3,500 to equip a single firefighter. Turnout gear and equipment usually lasts about five years. So every five years, we need what amounts to a quartermillion dollars.

"We need a new engine really bad. A new truck is $450,000. We have a substandard Hardin Valley station that probably couldn't pass inspection. We'd need at least $1.5 million to build a new one. I don't have a four-story ladder truck, and they're building some buildings that we can't protect."

The Karns and Heiskell departments' charters provide only for donations, but the chiefs said they're debating whether to move to subscription plans. Heiskell firefighters received a $15,000 grant last year from Knox County and scraped together another $10,000 to meet their budget, Walters said.

"That's just basically keeping the bills paid," he said. "We've got 15 volunteers covering about 30 square miles and about 1,500 homes. If everybody just paid in $50 per home, it'd be perfect. That would give us enough to put a paid person in here full time."

Roane County officials said they've wrestled with the same problem. The county worked out a compromise last year by contracting with its five volunteer departments and working out the funds for two full-time firefighters to cover the daytime hours, said Howie Rose, emergency management director.

"The public wants fire protection but doesn't want to pay for it," Rose said. "Through a combination of volunteers and public subsidy, we try to work out the best we can. We'd need eight or nine million dollars for a countywide fire department. That's 64 cents on the property tax. People won't stand for that. It's a good investment for the long haul on your insurance premiums, but people don't see that at the end of the month when they're trying to pay the bills."

Marston said he's been able to keep a paid firefighter on duty during the day in Karns but could use more. He said he expects this year's fundraising campaign will be the make-or-break point for his department.

"If we don't reach our financial goals by next year, we will have to decide whether we can provide the same level of service or develop a subscription plan," he said. "Some of these people are playing the odds. They're gambling that when a fire breaks out, we'll be there — but we'll be there with the least amount of people and equipment. When the big fire comes, we may not be able to handle it."

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