The Haines borough manager is proposing a paid position in the volunteer fire department for the next fiscal year’s budget. This would bring big changes to the structure of the organization, but, as KHNS’s Alain d’Epremesnil reports, this is just the beginning of a conversation between the borough and the department.

The Haines Volunteer Fire Department has operated for over a hundred years. Each year the volunteers elect a member to serve as the Fire Chief. But this may change. Borough Manager Annette Kreitzer released her budget this week and it includes money towards a paid fire chief position. She says she wants to start a conversation.

Kreitzer: “I recognize that it would be a big change. I have had conversations with the current fire chief and with the officers, and it needs a lot of discussions, but at this point, I’m willing to put it in the budget for year 24 and talk with the assembly, continue this discussion about whether this is a step that we want to take. But I at least want to bring it forward and start having this discussion publicly, openly.”

The fire department currently has three paid EMT/firefighters. They are borough employees, supervised by the chief, who is a volunteer. Kreitzer says there are a few issues she seeks to address by hiring a paid chief.

Kreitzer: “One of the problems that I hope to solve is that relationship between the borough and our own employees in the fire department, that having someone who is not a borough employee supervising borough employees, to me there is some element of liability risk there.

The administrative workload for the fire department has also increased over the years.

Kreitzer: “The paperwork has gotten more, the administrative responsibilities are more.”

But she says the role of the paid chief would go beyond that.

Kreitzer: “This is not just an administrative position. This is a working chief. Having that position there consistently focused on the operation of EMS and our fire department and working toward helping to build the department and really focussed on those elements from a borough perspective about how we can best support the fire and EMS crew.”

116-thousand dollars has been set aside for the position in the 2024 budget. 

Officers in the department are mulling over the proposal. They met with Kreitzer and are considering different options.

Brian Clay is the volunteer fire chief.

Clay: “We’ve sent one letter to the borough manager opening the communication, that we do know there is change coming, and then we sent to her a couple different options on what we want the department to look like, plus what we want to see in a paid chief.”

In the letter, the officers ask that the paid chief provide “solid leadership, stability, and consistency” to the organization. Among other things, they’d want the new hire to be required to respond at all hours to emergencies, and attend meetings and collaborate with multiple borough agencies. Responsibilities would include overseeing department training, ensuring that all members continually learn new skills.

The officers ask that the new chief not be in charge of the neighboring Klehini fire department, as this would increase homeowner insurance rates. And they don’t want the chief to be part of the community’s Emergency Operation Center, as this would interfere with job responsibilities during an emergency.

Among qualifications, officers request that the applicant has the volunteer heart and spirit, and the ability to keep volunteers and staff equal. Another requisite is that the applicant has the ability to adapt to a small and highly political town.

In the letter, the officers had many questions. They asked if the borough would pay enough to attract quality candidates. They also wondered if the new arrangement would cause the department to lose volunteers.

As an alternative to hiring a fire chief, the officers suggested the borough hire a paid assistant chief, who could act as a liaison between the borough and the fire department. They say a paid assistant chief could manage the paid staff for the borough, with some direction from the fire chief. That person would also be in charge of training. They say an advantage of this arrangement would be that the Haines Volunteer Fire Department would retain its ability to elect a chief. Another suggestion they bring up is hiring two lesser-paid staff instead of one fire chief. They say this would allow more shifts to be covered by a paid employee who could then take care of the associated paperwork.

Regardless of how the new position is set up, the officers ask that volunteers be allowed to have a say in the hiring and retention of the person filling the role.

The volunteers plan to discuss the borough’s proposal at their next meeting. The borough assembly will have the final say when they approve the budget. 

And a quick disclaimer, I am a member of the Haines Volunteer Fire Department