Many ND Fire Chiefs Expressed Challenges Recruiting & Retaining First Responders to Keep Communities Strong & Safe; 96 Percent of ND’s First Responders are Volunteers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Building on her work to help North Dakota’s first responders, U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) today introduced legislation that would open up new housing opportunities to help recruit and retain volunteer first responders across the state.

Across North Dakota, 96 percent of firefighting forces are volunteer. But according to North Dakota Firefighter’s Association Training Director Robert Knuth, those numbers are dwindling as the average age of a volunteer increases and the average number of years each volunteer serves decreases. Knuth and several other fire chiefs Heitkamp has heard from as she crafted the legislation expressed growing concern with the challenge of recruiting and retaining volunteers as hours required for necessary training outside of extinguishing fires preclude many would-be volunteers from committing the hours away from jobs that help them pay for rent or a mortgage. Additionally, the hefty price tag of purchasing a home in the state has made it more difficult for young families to become homeowners to help root them in their communities. When the median income of a mortgage applicant in North Dakota is $78,000, it’s clear to see why the trend of renter-occupied housing is growing, while owner-occupied housing is slowing down.  

“Ask any fire chief from Williston to Valley City, and they’ll tell you the number of volunteers on their forces isn’t what it used to be – but it’s not for lack of folks who want to give back to their communities,” said Heitkamp. “As the daughter of a volunteer firefighter, I know how crucial volunteers are to keeping our communities strong and safe. But when more families are having trouble finding affordable housing, it’s much harder than it used to be to come up with the money to put down roots in a community. My bill would help incentivize North Dakotans to volunteer as firefighters and first responders. By opening up more federal housing programs to volunteer first responders, we can draw more volunteers in, and keep in them in the force by helping them afford homes in our communities where they can raise their families.”

Heitkamp’s Volunteer First Responder Housing Act would help incentivize more men and women to become volunteer first responders and to stay in their communities by purchasing a home to raise their families and grow their businesses. By expanding the eligibility requirements in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Good Neighbor Next Door Program (GNNP), Heitkamp’s bill would help recruit and retain volunteer first responders across North Dakota and rural America.

Currently, the USDA Guaranteed Loan is only eligible to low and moderate-income rural Americans, and the GNNP, which provides a discount of 50 percent from the list price of certain HUD homes, is only available to full-time firefighters, teachers, police officers, and first responders. Heitkamp’s bill would lower the income requirements for first responders in the USDA Guaranteed Loan program by $18,000 so that more volunteers can access the affordable housing options the program currently offers and it would expand the eligibility requirements of the GNNP to include volunteer first responders.

According to the North Dakota Housing Association, “Housing affordability will be an important component of continuing efforts to grow and diversify the state’s economy,” and is a “key consideration for attracting new residents and retaining young adults.” When the statewide population is expected to increase by 20.5 percent from 2014 to 2029 – and 86.8 and 62.9 percent in McKenzie and Williams counties, respectively – it’s clear that communities not only need more affordable housing options, but a robust volunteer firefighting force that can respond to emergencies in the state’s growing communities.

“Our No. 1 issue in building the next generation of volunteer North Dakota firefighters is that we have a lot of people who want to volunteer, but then they learn what the time commitment is,” said North Dakota Firefighter’s Association Training Director Robert B. Knuth. “For younger folks who want to build a home and a family, committing the unpaid hours off the clock to train and volunteer – even though they want to give back to their communities – is often a price they can’t afford. That’s why Senator Heitkamp’s bill to help make home ownership more attainable to volunteers is a great opportunity for North Dakota to build back its dwindling number of volunteer firefighters not just today, but in the years ahead. When we can help offset the cost away from well-paying jobs and help volunteers afford to settle in rural towns they grew up in, that’s a win for the safety and well-being of rural communities, and a win for North Dakota.”

“When I started as a volunteer firefighter in 1978, I wanted to do something to help others in a real, tangible way,” Dickinson Fire Chief Robert Sivak. “That same desire to help others is still motivating people to volunteer as firefighters nationwide.  But it is more difficult today for the potential volunteer. The makeup of our community has changed, spreading out and getting bigger. Employment in industry, agriculture and related services may require long hours and shift work. The expectations of our fire departments have changed dramatically. Today’s firefighters must be able to commit the time to train, not only to fight fires but to respond to hazardous material incidents, technical rescue situations, and emergency medical calls – a commitment that isn’t easily met. Incentives such as Senator Heitkamp’s Volunteer First Responder Housing Act, which would expand a volunteer firefighters’ ability to obtain affordable housing, will encourage and support citizens willing to serve their communities as volunteer firefighters.”

“Here in Valley City, where I was born and raised, we’re so fortunate to have a close-knit community of families that truly care about one another, but times are a lot different for our younger generation than they were for me when I was recruited in college to volunteer,” said Valley City Fire Chief Gary Retterath. “That’s why Senator Heitkamp’s bill to help provide a path for our younger generation to afford to invest in homes in our rural communities is so crucial. For forces like ours that haven’t had a full roster of 40 volunteers in 20 years, her Volunteer First Responder Housing Act would help us offer the incentives we need to encourage more volunteers to climb the ranks like I did, and give back to the communities they love.”

“We’ve lost some pretty darn good firefighters over the years, and a lot of that is because so much has changed in terms of the time and training our volunteers can commit since I started as a volunteer firefighter myself in 1977 here in Devils Lake,” said Devils Lake Fire Chief Jim Moe. “Forty years later, we still fully rely on our volunteers, but they don’t live in or as close to our fire stations as they used to – and after about five years or so need to focus on affording a home and growing their families. As the older generations of volunteers faze out, we need more incentives to draw new folks onto the force, and Senator Heitkamp’s bill is a great start. By offering positive reasons like the ability to purchase a home, we can help keep the trained and talented volunteers that love this community for generations to come.”

Heitkamp’s bill, which is cosponsored by U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), is supported by the National Volunteer Fire Council, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the North Dakota Firefighter’s Association, the North Dakota Fire Chief’s Association, the Housing Assistance Council, and the National Rural Housing Coalition.

Heitkamp has long been fighting for the crucial federal support first responders like firefighters need to keep North Dakota’s communities strong and safe. In the past, Heitkamp has helped secure critical resources through successful programs like the Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) program and staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program. The AFG program has helped the North Dakota Firefighter’s Association make sure the State Fire Training Academy can prepare and train North Dakota firefighters to quickly respond to emergencies. In 2016, the SAFER program supported North Dakota Firefighter’s Association and Turtle Mountain Community Fire Department with over $3.2 million in resources to help recruit and retain volunteer and career firefighters.

Earlier this year, Senator Heitkamp also cosponsored an amendment to allow fire departments to use SAFER grants to promote part-time firefighters to full-time. Under the current system, SAFER grants are only allowed to be used to hire new, additional personnel. This common-sense fix would save money and give fire departments the flexibility they need to promote part-time personnel, many of which are already trained to respond to emergencies. Heitkamp’s provision was included in legislation reauthorizing AFG and SAFER programs, which the Senate passed unanimously. The bill now awaits consideration by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Last December, Heitkamp’s bill to help make sure first responders have the tools and training they need to respond to crude-by-rail emergencies was signed into law. Her Railroad Emergency Services Preparedness, Operational Needs, and Safety Evaluation (RESPONSE) Act – which she introduced in the wake of a crude oil train derailment in Casselton in 2013, will help improve training, resources and tools for first responders handling potential hazardous incidents, including crude oil train derailments. The bill creates a federal RESPONSE Act Subcommittee that combines emergency responders, federal agencies, and leading experts to review training and best practices for first responders. This subcommittee, co-chaired by FEMA and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), is now meeting and will provide Congress with expert recommendations on how to address first responders’ safety needs with increased railway safety challenges so they can best protect communities across the country. In March, Heitkamp called for recommendations of members to serve on the subcommittee.

The Casselton derailment was also the impetus for her Strong & Safe Communities Initiative, which aims to help address some of the emerging challenges facing the state by bringing focus to some ideas to keep North Dakota’s communities strong and families safe in their homes. She issued her Strong & Safe Communities Report in August of 2016. Among the goals of her initiative includes making sure North Dakota communities are supported by well-trained and robust emergency responder forces, and that they are equipped with the necessary tools and resources to prepare for hazmat incidents on the rails.

In addition to her RESPONSE Act, Heitkamp has worked to improve first responder safety by helping secure $5 million in federal funding to support a one-of-a-kind federal training facility in Pueblo, Colorado that prepares first responders to handle hazmat incidents on the rails, such as crude oil train derailments. At the end of 2016, nearly 310 North Dakota first responders had participated in training at the Pueblo facility – more than 130 of which were trained to specifically handle crude-by-rail incidents. She has also worked closely with federal, state, and local officials, including bringing then-U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to North Dakota and holding a U.S. Senate hearing on first responder safety. 

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