Call it a sign of the times.
Literally.
Take a close look at today's front page. It ushers in a new era in firefighting in Springfield.
Paid firefighters will soon be manning the fire house in the township, and the reason for it should be a cause for alarm for every Delco resident.
In fact, this newspaper did a weeklong series back in 2000 detailing what many in the firefighting community already knew: Volunteers are a dying breed. We called it "Cause for Alarm."
Springfield will use A $458,237 federal grant to hire four new paid firefighters. They will be used to man the station during daytime hours, when it is particularly hard for the dwindling number of volunteers to answer the call.
In doing so they will join Tinicum, which has been using a similar federal grant to hire professionals to man the station the last couple of years.
Volunteer firefighters are an institution here in Delaware County. They take immense pride in what they do, and their individual fire companies. They also zealously protect their turf.
The problem is that there no longer is enough of them.
Upper Darby and Chester long have employed professional firefighters.
It's something every town in Delco likely will be facing soon.
The numbers don't lie.
"Volunteerism has gone by the wayside," said longtime Tinicum Fire Co. President Tom Giancristoforo. His comments are echoed by Lee Fulton, Springfield Township manager who has 50 years experience in the firefighting business.
Springfield has about 45 active volunteers, about half the complement it had just a few years ago. It's the same story in Tinicum, where Giancristoforo said they now have about 75 active volunteers, down from 150 at its peak.
The reasons are exactly what you might expect. Today's families, depending on two incomes with both parents in the workplace, don't leave a lot of time for volunteering. And make no mistake, becoming a volunteer has its demands, with minimum training quickly becoming a drain on candidates. The result? Fewer and fewer volunteers are answering those calls.
"It's a new era for the township," Fulton said of the move in Springfield to bring in some paid firefighters to supplement volunteers, especially during the daytime hours.
It's one lots of Delco towns likely soon will be facing.
What's the answer? Professional firefighters are one way to go. But very few towns could afford it without this kind of federal help.
The other possibility is consolidation. It's not easy, and almost always controversial, creating rifts in long-established community institutions. Just ask the folks who just went through such a process out in Aston.
But it's one a lot of Delco towns soon will be facing.
Unless a lot more people suddenly start answering when that siren goes off. Until then, it will continue to be "cause for alarm."
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