The Haines Assembly on Tuesday heard its first summary of the recently completed fire department audit. The proposed strategic plan includes hiring a full-time fire chief and recruiting younger members.

Tom Schneider is with the safety consulting firm AP Triton. The borough hired them in February to assess the Haines Volunteer Fire Department. Schneider told the Haines Assembly about four steps that the borough should take to strengthen the fire department. His first suggestion was restructuring the top position.

“We’re recommending you do it immediately, is fill the fire chief position, full-time position,” he said. “Furthermore, we’re going to recommend also that you open it up to the outside.”

Haines’ Fire Chief, Brian Clay, is classified as a volunteer. He makes $750 per month. He has a regular full-time job and stops at the station during his lunch breaks to check-in.

Schneider’s second order of business was recruitment. He says the most active group of volunteers falls in the 60 and over age group.

“We are recommending that we establish an aggressive campaign to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters,” Schneider said. “We have some concerns about the aging of this community and the aging of its fire department.”

He noted that of the 32 emergency responders, none of them were members of the Chilkoot Indian Association. He suggested reaching out to the Native community.

“They are about 900 strong in the tribe,” Schneider said. “Folks, we’re in this together …  I don’t know why it’s there. The separation is there.” 

Schneider’s third recommendation was to move forward with the new public safety facility. He described the current building as unsafe, due to lack of proper ventilation.

“It is a health hazard to the responders when you have open running engines in a fire apparatus bay area enclosed, with responders in there,” he said. “Because the byproduct of diesel smoke is carcinogen, which is a cancer causing agent that takes a cumulative effect. And it’s not just affecting your firefighters, it’s also your police officers who are in there and your 911 dispatchers.”

Schneider’s last suggestion was 24-hour paid staffing. He brought up the idea of charging insurance companies for transport as a way to help raise money for the department.

The auditor was complimentary to existing fire department members, but outlined the seriousness of the situation.

“You’ve got a good bunch of people,” Schneider said. “You picked a very good time to think about these issues, because the age 60 folks are still very active … Not to add drama, but the clock is ticking, and if you start today really addressing these things, there’s a good possibility we can get ahead of this.”

Assembly member Cheryl Stickler used part of her question time with Schneider to express appreciation for the fire department. 

“I just want to thank publicly, all of the people in this room who I know are involved with EMS and our volunteer fire department,” she said. “And I see them attending church with their radios. I see them attending community events with their radios. And when those beep, they’re out of there in a heartbeat.” 

Mayor Tom Morphet outlined the next steps the borough should take.

“We’ll plan on a follow-up, at least one follow-up Zoom meeting, probably a committee meeting of the assembly, and dig a little deeper,” he said.

Schneider reminded everyone to keep a one-foot safety circle around candles, water Christmas trees frequently and turn off the lights at night, and to keep a working smoke alarm in every bedroom.

The operational audit comes at a fortuitous time as Haines has suffered two major fires within the last three months.