2005 Council Information memo

The state of volunteer emergency services in some areas of the United States is rapidly approaching crisis proportions.  In other places the crisis may have already arrived.  If it is true that the level of protection is dropping drastically because of a shortage of volunteers in fire, then there will be a need to have full-time, professional staffing of these departments. This would be intolerably expensive and result in a dramatic increase in government’s only source of locally generated tax revenue: the real property tax.

Most fire departments employ volunteer firefighters, they provide a public resource estimated to save residents more than 36.8 billion dollars annually[1]. Municipalities should anticipate that volunteer firefighter careers will be shorter than full-time personnel and as a result they need strong recruiting and retention programs in place.

Recruiting is an investment in the future. Retention is the ability to maximize that investment. Successful organizations are those with a strong organizational philosophy about volunteers. It is vital that adequate and appropriate resources be committed to the recruitment and retention of suitable volunteer firefighters. Satisfied volunteer firefighters enhance a community's impression of a fire department making recruitment and retention much easier.

Public officials and Fire department managers need to help volunteer firefighters achieve their goals with the organization, provide the things necessary to make volunteers feel like part of the organization, and help volunteers to impact and influence positively. They have many competing community/individual interests. Make the volunteers experience at the fire department as positive as possible.

Recruitment and retention of Volunteer Firefighters is one of the key issues being addressed jointly by the NVFC and U.S. Fire Administration. The NVFC and USFA have released a report entitled Recruitment and Retention in the Volunteer Fire Service: Problems and Solutions.

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[1] Fire Protection in Rural America: A Challenge for the Future. National Association of State Foresters, 1993.