the proximity of their local fire station.
But as the median age of Monroeville
increases, the available community
volunteers decreases. Many stations
currently have members that live outside
of the community, but volunteer in
Monroeville to gain valuable experience
and knowledge.”
The volunteer aspect of the
department is vitally important to the
community because it allows a municipal
budget savings of several million dollars.
“Although the municipality assists the
department with capital funding of some
of the fire apparatus, maintenance and
fuel costs, it sees tremendous saving in
personnel costs,” says Bacco. “This is
vital to Monroeville Fire Department
because it frees the time of the
volunteers to concentrate their efforts on
training and responding to the large call
volume as opposed to spending every
weekend putting on fundraisers to cover
operational and equipment costs.”
Unfortunately, as the available pool of
potential volunteers continues to shrink,
the annual total calls for service to which
Monroeville Fire Department responds
continues to grow. In 2018, it responded
to just fewer than 9,000 fire and EMS
incidents—an approximate 24 percent
increase in five years.
“The requirements to become part of
the department are not as complicated
or demanding as one might think,” says
Bacco. “Really, you just need to have
a desire to serve the community and
the willingness to acquire the proper
training.”
Currently, each station has its
own application process and can be
contacted individually for information
about starting that process. “Although
the training can be arduous and time
consuming, it is provided free of charge
and is very rewarding when completed,”
continues Bacco. “Also, there are more
ways to volunteer than by just fighting
fires or providing emergency medical
care. Each station has an administrative
branch that may need help with creating
fundraising opportunities, outreach
programs, recruitment and retention
programs, and more.
“Monroeville Fire Department is
unique for many reasons,” he adds.
“Although we are a suburban volunteer
department, we handle as many
incidents or more as some urban career
departments. We are also unique in
that we operate EMS from within the
department. Most communities have a
stand-alone or contracted EMS service
that handles their medical calls. For that
reason, the majority of the volunteers
in the department are trained in both
fire and EMS skills. Each station also
has a Residency Program that allows
individuals to live at the fire station rent-
free while attending a college degree
program. In exchange for rent-free living
they are required to apply their skills
and knowledge by staffing fire and EMS
apparatus while at the stations.”
In the future, the Monroeville Fire
Department will continue to strive to
evolve with the community and provide
the highest caliber fire and EMS service
that it can to the citizens and visitors
of Monroeville while maintaining a
minimal cost to the municipality. The
department welcomes and looks forward
to men and women of the community
becoming a part of the call to volunteer,
protect and serve. n
MONROEVILLE
❘
SUMMER 2019
15