The Warrenton Fire Protection District is adding prescheduled shifts for its volunteers staff.The prescheduling of duty time is intended to open up a new range of opportunities in training, service and time management and directly benefits the citizens and visitors in the Fire District.Chief Michael Owenby believes the new program will help ensure a standardized set of skills while promoting both accountability and transparency.“We’re asking for an increased time commitment from our volunteers, and we’re increasing the workload of our command staff,” Owenby said, “but when a firefighter improves his or her abilities, that firefighter improves the effectiveness of the crew and the department, and that allows us to better serve our community. It also makes it more likely that he or she will go home to their family at the end of a shift.”Across the country, sustaining an optimum level of training for the volunteers has become increasingly difficult due to the fact that they must balance their regular job responsibilities, family and a social life.Under the new program, volunteer firefighters will be required to be in the station, as part of an on-duty crew, a minimum of 24 hours each month. To ease the time burden and to make scheduling as flexible as possible, that 24-hour minimum can be served in blocks of four, six, eight, 12 or 24 hours.Training for volunteers will be improved with shift captains able to work one-on-one with each volunteer and their specific areas of need.The public benefit is being able to put more personnel on the emergency scenes and improving volunteer skill sets that are matched more closely with regular routines of the career staff.The board of directors of the Warrenton Fire Protection District voted unanimously at its regular meeting Nov. 20 to approve the new program.Jim Sharp, a member of the board of directors, calls the new program a “path forward” for the district’s volunteer firefighters.“We believe it addresses a variety of community fire protection service opportunities brought to the attention of the board,” said Sharp.Warrenton Fire Protection District logo