LI FD Volunteers rapidly diminishing.

What a shame. I think the economy factors in, but I also think the "new breed" doesn't want to put in the time to train, take time to respond to calls and just get dirty. There are even some paid departments that have trouble recruiting and retaining members. The call to service is, sadly, diminishing.
 
Same here in parts of VA. Several counties that were all volunteers are now either combination volunteer/career or all career.
 
Didn’t basically every career dept start as a volunteer dept that transitioned to career when they became busier and busier? I used to be a volly but I have always kind of questioned why it is so accepted in society. No other profession has places that rely solely on volunteers. There isn’t volunteer Police or doctors or transit drivers.
 
lfdlt31 said:
Didn’t basically every career dept start as a volunteer dept that transitioned to career when they became busier and busier? I used to be a volly but I have always kind of questioned why it is so accepted in society. No other profession has places that rely solely on volunteers. There isn’t volunteer Police or doctors or transit drivers.
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Prior to volunteers, every household in the settlement had to have a bucket and every able-bodied person had to participate in the bucket line, enforceable by fine.
 
I would say a lot of societal change for one automatic fire alarms, ems, co detectors all are added runs. Volunteer departments were never made for 2 3 or 4 thousand runs a year. People have changed to people now don’t work in town for the most part and very few can survive on a one job existence. Dad works 2 jobs mom works 1 job everyone time strapped and the word “community” no longer really exists.

Bottom line it was fun while it lasted however much like the dinosaur it will eventually go extinct. Sad but true JMHO
 
I would say a lot of societal change for one automatic fire alarms, ems, co detectors all are added runs.
agreed
So who is getting out of bed at 0300 for one of those calls when you have to get up in 3 hours and get the kids ready for school and then drive an hour to work. Let the Chief who wanted that fancy take-home Fire SUV handle it.
 
Capttomo said:
I would say a lot of societal change for one automatic fire alarms, ems, co detectors all are added runs.
agreed
So who is getting out of bed at 0300 for one of those calls when you have to get up in 3 hours and get the kids ready for school and then drive an hour to work. Let the Chief who wanted that fancy take-home Fire SUV handle it.
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I would say no one is that’s the basis of the article. You are 100% right Cap
 
Capttomo said:
I would say a lot of societal change for one automatic fire alarms, ems, co detectors all are added runs.
agreed
So who is getting out of bed at 0300 for one of those calls when you have to get up in 3 hours and get the kids ready for school and then drive an hour to work. Let the Chief who wanted that fancy take-home Fire SUV handle it.
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I guess the Chiefs are the cause of the problems in volunteer companies as well as they are in the FDNY.
 
t123ken said:
I guess the Chiefs are the cause of the problems in volunteer companies as well as they are in the FDNY.
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I used to be the training director for a county fire training center in PA, and recruitment/retention was a total train wreck.
One of the main issues was below par "leadership" and just zero organization. I tried to throw some management courses at the problem to fix the situation, and local volly chiefs almost took my head off for it. That was 20 years ago, and guess what? They’re still dealing with the exact same mess today.
 
Too many calls overwork volunteers and they start picking and choosing just because they are limited with time. One idea is to hire a career staff to handle the day-to-day calls. The only problem with that is lack of repetition for the volunteers. If it’s a veteran volunteer who has years of experience it’s fine, but if someone goes through basic training and then goes to 5 or 6 “big” calls a year, within a few years they are very rusty. Donning an air pack, properly stretching the line, forcing a door and using a TIC ends up being a real struggle. Continuous training helps, but it can’t replicate that day-to-day exposure.
 
Sadly the two main issues regardless of location and run volume are ignorance and ego! I thought time would make it better but it hasn’t.
 
Once you start down the road with a paid component of a combination department be cognizant of the consequences. Some combination departments have worked well for decades. Some are not working well. Look at what is happening in Norwich Ct for example. The addition of career staff can often accelerate declining volunteer recruitment, retention and interest. “Let the paid guys take that run”. “ the paid guys are always first due and we never get anytime on the nozzle”. “ all they use is for now is to pack hose”. Don’t get me wrong. There are many places that should be transitioning to a paid department but are still clinging to the past to the detriment of the citizens they serve. The transition to paid firefighters will be increasing exponentially in many areas of the country over the next decade. The volunteer fire service is a microcosm of our society. So many don’t want to do anything for free, or get there hands dirty. Leadership and management is poor. And as stated by others in this thread, the cost of living, affordability of homes in many places, and commute times bring many to the realization that they must prioritize their time to provide for their families. Volunteer firefighters are often working in areas where cops and teachers are retiring on 150k to 200k+ pensions. When you can barely make ends meet, you wind up walking away from volunteering. Many of these places transitioned to paid EMS from volunteer ambulance corps years ago. Now it’s the fire service turn.
 
Because many towns in suburban areas can’t afford a large full-time staff, perhaps there will be more county run fire departments popping up. So instead of 12 town fire departments with 12 chiefs and mixed staffing (a few career, a few volunteers, etc) there will be 1 county fire department with 1 chief with career staffed pieces and a more standardized set of procedures. When a fire comes in, you’d get 3 engines and 1 ladder from the closest stations. Any interested volunteers would be more or less support personnel.
 
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