Rowan Magazine | The People. The Places. The Way of Life.

On his day off, Sean Dunham goes to his favorite hangout: the Granite Quarry Fire Department. Recently, he arrived at 8 a.m. and left 24 hours later. For his diligence, he received an “attaboy” from the chief, but no pay. Sean, like 735 others in Rowan County, is a volunteer firefighter. When he’s not at the firehouse, he carries a fire department-issued pager. It goes with him to church, his day job, to restaurants -- everywhere.

At 20, Dunham is just a year older than another notable volunteer, Justin Monroe. Monroe and Victor Isler died March 7 fighting the Salisbury Millwork fire. Their deaths united and saddened this community. Like Justin, Sean’s desire to fight fires could be described as gung-ho. “I have wanted to be a firefighter since I was knee-high to a grasshopper,” he said.

People like Sean, Justin and Victor understand that it takes more than high motivation and a childhood dream to be a firefighter in Rowan County.

The first step is usually a trip to one of the county’s 39 fire stations. “Each department has its own application process,” said Director of Emergency Services Frank Thomason.”Some are informal, others more formal.” A key person to meet – and impress – is the fire chief or department training officer. Without his or her permission, one of the next steps is impossible: rookie training offered by the Rowan Basic Fire Training School at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College (RCCC).

Fire Training School occurs at RCCC’s Salisbury campus or a sponsoring fire department. This spring, rookie classes leading to Firefighter I and II certification were offered at the Rockwell Rural Fire Department and the Cleveland Municipal Fire Department.

The main difference between on-campus and firehouse training is time, said RCCC’s Director of Fire and Customized Training and Development Roger McDaniel. “Rookie classes on campus are 20 hours a week. At the fire department, they are six hours per week and extend throughout the year.” McDaniel explained that experienced firefighter and rookies take the same classes at the fire stations. “Continuous training is part of their life. They have to be the best they can.” That’s because multiple certifications – in fire, rescue and emergency medical technology – have become the norm. “A firefighter does more than fight fires,” said McDaniel.

Age is a barrier for enthusiastic teens with firefighting ambitions. Beginning this past January, only students 18 years or older are permitted to participate in Basic Fire School. For those younger, there is the Junior Firefighter Program like the one that Justin Monroe completed at Miller’s Ferry Fire Department, where he volunteered.

That program, which is open to young men and women ages 14 to 18, is not an easy slide down the firepole. It involves training meetings every Tuesday evening at the Long Ferry Road station. Finals are more than paper and pencil exams. These teens – and there are currently 15-20 in the Miller’s Ferry program – get to practice a lot of what’s been preached to them. According to the department Web site, “Junior Firefighters quickly become an integral part of the firefighting team during emergencies.” They establish water supplies, provide equipment, change air packs, man exterior hose lines and assist with interior overhaul after a fire is extinguished. It is dangerous work with the possibility of serious injury.

But many young firefighters want more than volunteer work. They aspire to a career – firefighting plus full-time pay and benefits. Justin Monroe had a toe-hold on that goal before his death. He worked part-time for both the Salisbury and Spencer Fire Departments while continuing to volunteer with Miller’s Ferry. Sean Dunham has applications pending with full-time fire departments in at least five central North Carolina communities. It is easy to see why they want to make the transition. Full-time starting salaries with the Salisbury Fire Department range from $24,600 to $34,660. Experienced part timers like Justin receive $10 an hour, but their work week is far from consistent. It may be anywhere from zero hours to 30.

It may surprise newcomers, but paid firefighters are a minority in Rowan County. That also applies to our entire state. Rowan County has 189 paid firefighters; that’s just 20 percent all firefighters working in the county. North Carolina as a whole elevates that percentage a bit. Statewide, there are 10,975 paid firefighters, or 23 percent of the 48,300 who protect our lives and property. Those low percentages are gradually increasing. “We’re seeing more and more part-time work, and there are more full-time people on duty,” said Tom Murphy, Rowan County fire marshal.

The move toward paid firefighters has evolved because volunteerism is not what it used to be. Today, many volunteer firefighters work in Charlotte or Greensboro, too far to get back home to fight a daytime fire. Local employers are not as willing as in the past to let employees leave at midday to fight a fire. “Few employers can afford to do that today,” said Murphy. Also blame two-income households, longer and more complex fire training, and year-round sports programs that create more soccer moms and dads than volunteer firefighters.

Look no further than Landis to learn what life was like in low-tech, high-volunteer times. In 1947, after the town purchased its first fire engine, town officials asked the owners of Linn Wright Funeral Home, the only business with someone on duty 24/7, if they would receive all fire calls. They said, “Sure, and when a call comes in we’ll activate the town fire siren as well.” The siren alerted local mills to set off their own internal alarm. That whistle signaled foremen to release volunteer firefighters from work. When the volunteers arrived at the Landis fire station, they had to call the funeral home to learn the location of the fire. Pagers were a thing of the future.

The change from volunteer to paid fire departments has been gradual in Rowan County, maybe a shift of 10 to 15 percent over the past 20 years. In Pennsylvania, the past three decades have seen volunteer ranks drop 24 percent; in New York State, it’s been 68 percent in the past 15 years. At that rate, New York volunteers will be as rare as the fire house Dalmatian in another decade or two.

Some Rowan County stations straddle the pay-volunteer divide with what is known as “pay per call.” This practice has become standard in at least four Rowan County fire stations. Granite Quarry, Rockwell, Landis and Spencer pay volunteers between $8 and $10 for each fire call. Frank Thomason calls it “gas money;”others say it’s an incentive.

It is difficult to imagine paid firefighters in some Rowan County fire stations. Small rural stations like the four in Mount Ulla or Pooletown in Richfield are in areas that lack fire hydrants. Homeowners and businesses are dependent on volunteers behind the wheel of a water tanker truck for the occasional fire. These stations – as well as five others – are rated 9S by the Office of the State Fire Marshal. A rating of 1 meets Insurance Services Office (ISO) standards for an exemplary station. An ISO 10 means that a fire department does not meet minimal standards. Despite its near-10 status, a 9S has one key advantage. Insurance companies lower the rate on their homeowners polices for customers in 9S fire districts. Rates continually improve as the ISO rating drops.

Rowan County wants its fire departments to strive for more than the minimum. ISO 6 is the goal. “Class 6 is a breaking point for residential insurance,” said Frank Thomason. “Classes 5 to 1 have to do with commercial insurance rates.”Presently, 23 of the county’s 39 stations have reached that level. Of the 16 that haven’t, six are ISO 7. The rest are ISO 9S. The two Cleveland stations that are “split-rated”-- 6 for the municipality and 9S for rural areas – were included among the ISO 6 stations.

To reduce their ratings, stations must show improvement in three critical areas: fire alarms and communications, community water supply and fire department training, response statistics and equipment. It’s not easy making the grade, but Miller’s Ferry did it. Effective May 1, 2008, Miller’s moved from an ISO 9S to an ISO 6. Justin Monroe would have been proud.