Submitted Photo Membership is a focus of the East Dunkirk Volunteer Fire Department.

Legislation has been introduced in the state Legislature to allow the East Dunkirk Volunteer Fire Department to accept more members who don’t live inside the district’s boundaries.

In November, Kyle Damon, East Dunkirk fire chief, told Dunkirk Town Board members that calls have increased 31% since 2017. At the time, the department had nine active members.

Damon noted the call volume has increased greatly because of places like WellNow that are now in business, making the need for supplies, as well as calls, much higher. In 2017, the department had 193 calls, this year, they’re at 280 calls, and the department has nine active members.

Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, has introduced S.9561 is asking the state Legislature to amend Section 1402 of the state’s Not-For-Profit Corporation Law to allow the department to have more members who don’t live in East Dunkirk. A companion bill will soon be introduced formally in the state Assembly by Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown. The bill will be up for consideration during the next state legislative session starting in January. Such bills are typically approved in the legislature, typically by large margins.

“Our volunteer firefighters provide invaluable and often lifesaving services to our communities,” Borrello said when asked for comment by The Post-Journal. “It is a tremendous commitment on the part of these volunteers who must go through extensive training, be willing to respond to emergencies at any hour, and even put their own safety at risk, in some instances. Not surprisingly, it has gotten harder to find individuals who are able and willing to commit to these volunteer positions. The national and statewide shortage of volunteer firefighters has impacted the East Dunkirk department. This legislation is aimed at helping the department fill the gaps in its volunteer ranks by allowing them to have a higher percentage of non-resident volunteers. It is one way that we can help meet this need in our community, and I will be working with Assemblyman Goodell to get it passed in the new session.”

State law already contains several fire departments exempted from the 45% cap on non-resident volunteer firefighters, including the South Lockport Fire Company and the Terry’s Corners Volunteer Fire Company in Niagara County; the Batavia Volunteer Fire Company in Batavia; River Road Fire District 3 and the Armor Volunteer Fire Company in Erie County.

“The East Dunkirk Volunteer Fire Department has had difficulty recruiting members from their district and have reached the 45% cap on out-of-district members,” Borrello wrote in his legislative justification. “On August 9, 2022, the East Dunkirk Volunteer Fire Department requested legislation to exempt their fire department from the 45% cap on non-resident volunteers.”