http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/cfs-volunteers-fall-by-thousands/story-fn6bqvxz-1226397195871THE state's army of Country Fire Service volunteers is at its lowest level in at least a decade, amid warnings of a hotter, drier summer.
CFS numbers have fallen from 16,419 in 2002 to 13,682. That is a drop of almost 17 per cent as of Tuesday.
In the past year alone, the service has lost 861 volunteers - the biggest annual drop in the past 10 years, according to figures obtained by The Advertiser.
As a result, the CFS is struggling to find adequate crews for day shifts within 100km of Adelaide. The demands of employers, the struggling economy and an ageing population are being blamed for the sharp drop.
Experts have called for financial incentives to entice more people to the service as the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts a return to an El Nino weather pattern over spring and summer.
CFS Volunteers Association president Roger Flavell told The Advertiser that falling volunteer numbers had been a concern for years - but little had been done by the State Government to address the worsening problem.
"We've been concerned for the past few years about the falling numbers and the significant ageing demographic of CFS volunteers," he said.
"If the State Government had to replace CFS volunteers with paid services the cost would be astronomical, yet they are very reluctant to give us a whole lot more support."
When The Advertiser requested an interview with CFS chief officer Greg Nettleton about the issue, it was directed to Emergency Services Minister Jennifer Rankine.
She said the fall in volunteer numbers had not had a noticeable effect on response capability, saying programs were in place to attract and retain volunteers.
"The state's Fire and Emergency Service Volunteer Support Branch has two recruitment and development officers who work with individual brigades to retain volunteers, while assisting with recruitment," she said.
"In the recent State Budget, the Government announced funding of $2.6 million over four years for nationally endorsed training for CFS and SES volunteers."
Mr Flavell said the falling numbers had not placed the CFS at crisis point but said rostering issues for day shifts within 100km of Adelaide were apparent.
"It's definitely a concern (and) because of those falling resources, it seems to be getting harder to get people to travel to other areas on strike teams."
La Trobe University School of Psychological Science Adjunct Professor Jim McLennan, who has studied volunteer retention and attraction in all country fire services in Australia, said it was a difficult issue to address.
"Nobody quite knows what to do, simply because there is not one obvious golden bullet answer," he said.
Prof McLennan said if the trend continued, financial incentives might be needed to attract volunteers.
"There has never been any political will anywhere to do something," he said.
Mr Flavell said there were many issues contributing to falling numbers of volunteers and he couldn't single out one reason why numbers were increasingly falling. "One of the things is the ageing population," he said.
Hahndorf CFS captain Terry Hall, who has volunteered with the service for 26 years, urged people to get involved.
"It's open to all ages providing you are capable of doing the job," he said.
"You can be part of a group of people looking to help others and dedicated to the same outcome of protecting the community."
Mr Flavell said the CFS "desperately needs younger people to be involved".
