Chris Dilley is an engineer for a contact lens manufacturer, a member of the Air National Guard and, perhaps to his greatest satisfaction, a volunteer for Clay County Fire and Rescue department.
He's been volunteering to help fight fires and respond to emergencies for seven years.
"I think it's important," Dilley said. "There needs to be more than just a concern for yourself in this world."
Since its inception, Clay's department has used trained "auxiliaries" in addition to career firefighters. There are currently 122 volunteers helping more than 200 career employees.
That's rare along the First Coast, but that's about to change.
Jacksonville Beach Fire and Rescue will implement an auxiliary program to utilize six to eight volunteers to help offset overtime costs. The program goes into effect Monday.
St. Johns County has approved the concept of a volunteer program but has nothing concrete yet.
Jacksonville Beach Fire Chief Gary Frazier proposed his department's policy and said budgetary constraints in the coastal community played into the decision in hopes of defraying overtime costs.
"This is one way to do that that's less costly and still offers a state certified firefighter, EMT or paramedic to supplement some of our staffing needs," Frazier said.
Although Jacksonville Beach will benefit from the free service of volunteers, the program is not without cost. The city will pay $20,000 to cover insurance, medical exams, stress tests and gear for those who want to join the department as an auxiliary. Frazier said those costs will properly outfit volunteers and allow them to be trained and eventually be employed as full-time firefighters.
Not everyone is an advocate, though.
There used to be multiple departments using volunteers in Duval County before consolidation in the 1960s, and most auxiliaries classified as staff were phased out under Jacksonville Fire and Rescue. Jacksonville still utilizes about 80 volunteers, but unlike the volunteers in Clay and Jacksonville Beach, they are not classified as staff.
Randy Wyse, the Jacksonville firefighters union president, said volunteers aren't a good way to deal with budget woes.
"You are a much more highly trained firefighter when you go into a paid department," Wyse said. "I would ask the citizens of Jacksonville Beach: What do you want and what are you paying for? ... You could have very low taxes and that's great and have a total volunteer department. You'll be lucky if somebody shows up [to an emergency call] within four to five minutes."
St. Johns County Fire Chief Carl Shank said his county's department was founded on volunteers, and when implemented again the program will not be to offset budget shortfalls.
And in Clay County, Chief Lorin Mock said the use of volunteers is essential in his department.
He said the skeptics don't take into account the overriding benefit to full-time firefighters who are already staffing stations 24 hours a day.
"Having volunteers show up on the fire ground, in some cases with apparatus and in other cases just to augment the apparatus that is already there, boy that's a win-win for every organization," said Mock, formerly a Jacksonville firefighter.
Terry Kuhlwein is an occupational medicine physician at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, but he's been a volunteer at the Clay County fire department for seven years. He said despite his highly specialized field of medicine, he still feels compelled to volunteer.
"I think it gets in your blood," Kuhlwein said. He volunteered in his native Ohio before moving to Florida several years ago. "People are very appreciative when you show up to help them in crisis."
Ian Petersen joined Clay's department as a volunteer about two years ago. He was hired as a full-time employee in April and said volunteering helped develop his career identity.
"It was good training, good experience and it was definitely a good foundation for what I wanted to do with my life and I absolutely fell in love with it," Petersen said.
For permanent volunteers like Dilley, he said part of the payoff is being part of the fire station culture.
"I don't claim to be at the level of a pro; that's why I'm a volunteer," Dilley said. "Whether it's career or volunteer, non-proficient firefighters aren't as welcome as somebody that's willing to give 100 percent when they're there."
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Copyright 2012 - The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville
