Published: July 26, 2009 11:53 pm      

LaVale open house

A recruitment tool for volunteer firefighters

CUMBERLAND — Izaiah Kahl could be a volunteer firefighter scout’s dream recruit. He’s enthusiastic. He’s engaging in conversation and, for all of his nearly 5 years, he’s quite knowledgeable.

Buckled in behind the wheel of the LaVale Volunteer Fire Department’s Bobcat 2200 all-terrain vehicle, Kahl was rarin’ to go. Kahl and the rest of the LaVale community visited Station No. 1 on National Highway Sunday afternoon to gain hands-on experience in fire safety and awareness.

The event was hosted by the LaVale Volunteer Fire Department. Ellerslie and Corriganville volunteer fire companies also participated in the event, which featured a display of firefighting equipment and vehicles and, new this year, a quick-dress contest and firefighter challenge.

Kahl figured the ATV, donated to the company by the LaVale Rescue Squad, could go 24 mph, but like any new firefighter, couldn’t remember everything. Kahl, who turns 5 Thursday and begins kindergarten at Parkside Elementary School this fall, couldn’t recall how fast a 2008 heavy rescue truck could go.

At least he was honest about it.

“I don’t know,” said the blonde-haired boy, whose feet remained nearly a foot shy of reaching the ATV’s pedals. “Sometimes I forget.”

Kahl is, however, a master of the fundamentals. He knew, for example, that a firefighter uses a hose with water to put a fire out.

He might, of course, have a leg up on the rest of the Class of 2022. His grandfather, Hugo Lichtl, is a two-year member of the LaVale fire company. He attended the open house with his sister, Piper Lichtl, 3, and relatives Beckie and Trudie Lichtl. From the looks of grin on Kahl’s face and his outfit complete with a gray T-shirt with two red fire trucks, it seems only a matter of time before the pre-school graduate is answering emergency calls in his community.

Lt. Jim Cook hopes others — closer to age 18 — are considering the same thing. How to measure success of an open house?

“We might get an application” from a recruit, Cook said.

Cook said calls for the LaVale fire stations — the first volunteer fire department in Western Maryland to have two separate units — haven’t decreased in recent years. The trend is for volunteers to spend more time away from their own dinner table putting out fires and responding to vehicle accidents.

Cook said both stations responded to 455 emergency calls in 2008. Just past the halfway mark this year, the unit has been dispatched 299 times. Up to 70 percent of calls result from vehicle accidents, Cook said. With 80 members and roughly 40 active firefighters, it can be difficult — especially during daylight business hours — to respond in a timely manner.

After all, it takes a person’s time away from something else, be it home or work.

“Almost everyone here has a full-time job,” said Cook, himself an employee at a local prison. “Daytimes are the most difficult.”

Firefighter recruits ages 16 to 18 have the option of earning Firefighter I and EMT certifications through the Allegany County Center for Career and Technical Education. An off-the-street 18-year-old has up to two years to be Firefighter I certified, Cook said, and the fire company pays for all training and safety equipment. The only cost is a $6 application fee and time to complete a physical and a mask fit test.

“We could use a lot more” firefighters and support volunteers, Cook said. “We’ve never turned anybody away” without reason.

Initial acceptance as a firefighter is on a probationary period for one year. For more information on becoming a volunteer firefighter or to provide administrative support, call (301) 777-0871 or (301) 729-1950.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.