Instituting the Deadwood Volunteer Fire Department pay-per-call initiative has more than doubled the amount of responders to fires and other incidents.
Instituting the Deadwood Volunteer Fire Department pay-per-call initiative has more than doubled the amount of responders to fires and other incidents.
DEADWOOD — With fewer than five volunteer firefighters responding to many calls for assistance in the past, the Deadwood Volunteer Fire Department decided to address that issue, as well as ramp up its retention efforts by successfully introducing the pay-per-call system among its ranks.
“One of the things that, really, we benefited from this pay-per-call is instead of getting, like, two and three people at a call, we’re getting, like, five to seven to nine,” said Public Information Officer Sandy Glover. “I mean, we’re really getting a lot more people to come to the fire or whatever and that helps a lot because when it was only, like two to three people, that was a little hard on some of our folks. The biggest plus to it has been that we have lots more hands on for a call. Even if they only show up here to the station, they get money because they’re here and ready to help the other guys.”
Jan. 3, the Deadwood City Commission approved expending $26,544.70 to the department for the pay-per-call project, to be paid from the 2022 Fire Department Recruitment/Retention line item.
“It is an item that the volunteer department, they came to budget (sessions) in 2022. It is a line item that they’re using for recruitment and training,” said Deadwood Finance Officer Jessicca McKeown. “So, they are logged hours times the volunteers and they get a stipend from the Volunteer Fire Department.”
In an annual review of the pay-per-call system submitted to the commission and covering Jan. 1-Nov. 30, 2022, Fire Chief Alex Hamann said incidents for the year totaled 132, with 900 individual responses with 1,094.15 hours used, totaling $21,790.20.
“Trainings for the year totaled 199, with 275.23 hours used, total dollars at $4,754.50,” Hamann said. “The total for the year is $26,544.70, which the fire department is requesting for the pay-per-call project.”
Commissioner Gary Todd said it seems to be working good.
“Retention’s been good and also recruitment’s been good,” Todd said. “I might also add that they did come in under budget.”
Glover discussed the program which is in its first year.
She said if department members respond to a call, they are paid, at this time, $20 an hour. That money is paid at the end of the year.
Glover said the Deadwood City Commission approved a budget of $37,000 for the department to spend on the pay-per-call program in 2022.
“And we told them right up front that if we weren’t going to use it all, just to use it all,” Glover said.
The $10,455.80 unused in 2022 would remain in the Recruitment and Retention line item.
“We’re all the way up to 31 (department members),” Glover said. “We started out the year at probably about 22.”
Glover attributed the uptick to the new program.
“People are up here and ready to go and whatever and they’re not, like, standing around for nothing, I guess, is the way to put it,” she said. “So I think that it really has helped. It definitely seems to have helped with our recruiting, because we’ve got about seven, eight new people. It’s just hard to get a volunteer to really be a volunteer anymore, because there are things that you need to do. I mean, you get up, you get dressed, you take off, you leave your family, you know? So it’s nice to have some recompense for it.”
Glover said so far, the department members mission is being met.
“Recruiting and retention, especially the retention, you know, if we can keep people,” Glover said. “Because we’ve got a few really good young people from around the town, for a change. But, we don’t want to lose them.”
For individuals interested in joining the ranks of the department, call Glover at (605) 578-1212.
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