Homer Fire Chief Riley Credits Increased Attendance and Better Response Time to Length of Service Award Program – Village Residents Asked to Vote Yes Come November

Village of Homer Fire Chief Jay Riley says the news is good for the Homer Fire Department as volunteers responding to calls have increased and the time it takes to respond to a call have decreased. Chief Riley told X101 News he credits the improvements to the planned rollout of the Length of Service Award Program, better known as LOSAP.

Residents in the Village of Homer will have to flip their ballot this November to vote to approve LOSAP for the Homer Fire Department. LOSAP is a monetary incentive for volunteer firefighters. Volunteers with the Homer Fire Department would be required to reach a certain amount of points to qualify for LOSAP. New York State has set required criteria for at least 50 points per year for firefighters to achieve.

Members can earn points by attending training events at the station, responding to fire and rescue calls, fire prevention community events, standby calls, and training where they can earn certificates. They will also be required to respond to at least 10% of the total calls the department receives in a year.

When firefighters reach the retirement age, 62 years old, they will receive a check in the amount of the years they’ve accrued with the department. Each year will amount to $750 dollars. Members of the Homer Fire Department who are already at or above the retirement age are seeing the potential benefit and have been responding to more calls and participating in community events to achieve their point requirement.

A 5-year buyback will be done with old members who are either at or above the retirement age of 62 years old. They will receive a check in the amount of $3,750 ($750 times 5 years). However, in order to qualify for the check, they must meet the 50 point minimum this year.

“We saw an uptick in people actually responding to alarms, doing these public safety events like National Night Out. So it’s awesome. I mean, it’s huge.” Homer Fire Chief Jay Riley said to X101 News.

Response times for the department have greatly improved, including the number of members responding to calls. So far in 2024, the average number of members responding to incidents stands at 13.5; last year the average was 8.8.

Homer Fires Department response time to the scene is also greatly under the National Fire Protection Association average of 5 minutes. Homer Fires average response time is 2:58 in 2024.

“We need people to vote yes because it gets people around and makes the community safer. It’s a small tokens to give to people to want to come around [with] recruitment and retention.” Riley continued.

Another benefit of LOSAP is creating longevity for the Homer Fire Department. Homer Fire has seen an uptick in new members not only joining the department but being active. So far, there have been 8 new members in 2024.

Residents will not see an increase in their taxes with LOSAP as it has already been budgeted within the Fire Department for the Village of Homer. Only residents in the village will be allowed to vote to approve adopting the program for the Homer Fire Department.

“We’re not seeing a lack of volunteers or lack of participation and I thank the LOSAP program for this.” Homer Fire Chief Jay Riley told X101 News. “It’s instilling a new fire in the seasoned firefighters and it’s catching on to the younger people the new firefighters want to come around.”