Friendly Fire

Third-generation volunteer wants to fan fire tax with documentary

March 18, 2008

Ron Garbutt '09 at the Union Fire Company, which he hopes to help with a documentary calling for a fire tax to support volunteer firefighting efforts in Carlisle and beyond.

Ron Garbutt '09 knows the value of time.

The math major has a full course load. He's a member of the football team with a work-study job in the athletics department. When not at Dickinson, he spends his time at home in Galloway Township, N.J., working as a substitute teacher and, in his role as an Eagle Scout, helping out at his former scout troop. During summers, he works as a server at the Jersey shore. In his spare time, he likes to hike, camp, bowl and snowboard.

And he's a volunteer firefighter—at the Germania Fire Company in New Jersey and, while at college, the Union Fire Company in Carlisle.

At the Union Fire Company, Garbutt has added another project to his volunteer to-do list. He is working on a documentary film that, once distributed, will help firefighters here and throughout the region devote more time to training and fighting fires and less time to raising funds.

The documentary, part of a new Dickinson course, The Social Documentary: Insight, Understanding and Production, will feature a dramatized scene in which a man carelessly starts a fire in his home with a cigarette. The 911 call goes out, but no one is available to respond.

The film, which will include interviews with local fire and community officials, will call for municipalities and their residents to consider adopting a nominal fire tax rather than rely solely on sporadic contributions and time-consuming fundraisers.

'Lessen the burden'

"The fire tax will lessen the burden on fundraising and properly fund the department," Garbutt said. "This will ensure that the equipment we use is updated and safe. The fact is, because of our busy lives and a hundred other things to do, it is hard to put the time in for the proper amount of fundraising. With two-job households, kids with sporting events and shows, et cetera, we cannot get enough help."

No one knows that better than Union Fire Company Chief Dave Weaver, who looks forward to circulating Garbutt's documentary.

"If he pulls it off, it will save me the time of having to go out to groups of people and politicians to try to get this tax," said Weaver. "A lot of people forget that this is not a paid job."

Weaver, a full-time cardiovascular technician at Harrisburg Hospital, said he appreciates what Garbutt, who lives at the fire station, does for Carlisle.

"It's awesome," he said. "He's giving something back to our community and he's doing something he likes."

Professional presentation

By using the college's equipment and expertise to make the documentary, Garbutt will be able to shed the best possible light on his argument for a fire tax, said course instructor Justin Marquis, adjunct faculty in community studies.

"A professional-looking film will help the move forward some of the ambitious goals they have for bettering the organization for the benefit of the Carlisle community," Marquis said. "Walking into a potential donor's office with a succinct yet moving documentary about the history of the fire company and its struggles can go a long way toward winning people over to supporting the organization."

Garbutt, a third-generation firefighter, said his documentary will include information about nearby municipalities—including Hampden, South Middleton and Silver Spring townships—that have adopted taxes to support firefighters.

"It has been done across the state," Garbutt said, "but I am looking at a very local situation. The biggest reason for the fire tax is to eliminate the need for high-powered fundraising just to cover the costs of providing a fire service to the town."