Firefighter games, April open house aim to grow ranks of firefighters

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) – The State of New York is taking a page from Onondaga County’s book, with a state-wide firefighter recruitment campaign set to begin.

Last year, the Manlius Fire Department alone recruited 19 new members during their open house.

“We recruited about 19 people, seven interior firefighters, which is unheard of, and five EMTS out of it,” said George Davenport, a volunteer officer in the Manlius Fire Department.

Based on the positive results, fire departments will open their doors for one weekend in April to entice community members to join the ranks.

This weekend, the FASNY Firefighter Winter Games, will be a prelude to April’s open houses. Departments hope this event will also get more people interested in joining.

The sixth annual event will begin Friday night with a kickoff event in Cortland, followed by the actual games on Saturday at Greek Peak and Sunday at SUNY Cortland Alumni Arena. 200 firefighters will participate; more than ever before. The Firefighter Winter Games are designed to highlight the strength, skills, and camaraderie involved in firefighting.

“The volunteer fire service depends on people to donate their time outside their normal work house. We constantly are on the lookout for people who can…are physically fit and the Winter Firefighter Games certainly give that appeal out. It’s not just only a fun competition. There’s a certain amount of physical conditioning that’s necessary to compete in those games,” said Gordon Kotars of the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York.

Volunteer departments save communities millions of dollars. Any of the chiefs will say they could use twice as many volunteers as they already have. Even departments such as DeWitt’s, which has some professional members, is welcoming to volunteers.

The Open Houses will be April 9th and 10th.