A National Institution Under Strain
The American volunteer fire service is one of the most remarkable civic institutions in the world. For more than two centuries, neighbors have volunteered to protect neighbors—often at significant personal cost and risk. Today, approximately 65% of U.S. fire departments are staffed primarily by volunteers. They are, by any measure, the backbone of fire protection in this country.
That backbone is weakening. And the data demands attention.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, the United States had 676,900 volunteer firefighters in 2020—the lowest number ever recorded by NFPA. That figure represents a 25% decrease since 1984, a period during which the U.S. population grew by approximately 40%. We have fewer volunteers serving a significantly larger population. The math is unsustainable.
The Scope of the Decline
National averages, while instructive, can obscure the severity of regional impacts. The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states have been particularly hard hit.
New York State has seen its volunteer firefighter population decline from approximately 120,000 in the early 2000s to an estimated 75,000 to 80,000 today. That represents a loss of roughly 40,000 trained volunteers—the equivalent of depopulating an entire mid-size city's fire protection force.
In Connecticut, volunteer ranks have experienced precipitous losses. In December 2025, the South Meriden Volunteer Fire Department closed its doors after 117 years of continuous service. That closure was not a sudden event but the culmination of years of declining membership, increasing call volumes, and the inability to maintain adequate response capability. It stands as a sobering reminder that legacy alone cannot sustain an institution.
Understanding the Root Causes
Effective policy responses require accurate diagnosis. The volunteer firefighter decline is driven by multiple intersecting factors, none of which are amenable to simple solutions.
Training Burden
The training requirements for volunteer firefighters have increased substantially over the past four decades. A Firefighter I certification now requires 130 or more hours in most jurisdictions, and many departments expect additional certifications in hazmat awareness, vehicle rescue, and emergency medical response. For a working adult with family obligations, committing several hundred hours to unpaid training represents a formidable barrier to entry.
This is not an argument against training standards. Firefighting is inherently dangerous, and proper training saves lives—both firefighters' and civilians'. However, policymakers must acknowledge that higher standards create higher barriers, and offset strategies are necessary.
Economic Pressures
The economic model that supported volunteer firefighting for most of American history has fundamentally changed. When one household member worked locally and the other managed the home, midday volunteer response was practical. That model has largely disappeared. The dual-income household is the norm, not the exception, and many workers commute significant distances from the communities they call home.
Health and Safety Awareness
Increased awareness of occupational cancer, cardiac risk, PFAS exposure, and mental health challenges in firefighting has made prospective volunteers more cautious. This awareness is appropriate—these risks are real and well-documented. But it has the effect of reducing the pool of individuals willing to accept those risks without compensation.
Generational and Cultural Shifts
The social structures that historically channeled young people into volunteer fire companies—family tradition, community identity, social networks centered on the firehouse—have weakened in many communities. Competing demands on leisure time, geographic mobility, and changing patterns of civic engagement all contribute.
The Safety Implications
The consequences of the volunteer decline are not theoretical. They manifest in measurable impacts on public safety.
Response times in volunteer-dependent areas average two or more minutes longer than in career-staffed jurisdictions. In cardiac arrest, brain death begins within four to six minutes without intervention. In a structure fire, flashover can occur within five to eight minutes of ignition. Every additional minute in response time has direct clinical and fire behavior implications.
The safety record of volunteers themselves reflects the strain on the system. In Ohio, 57% of firefighter fatalities between 1990 and 2025 were volunteers. While volunteer firefighters constitute a majority of the national firefighting force, the fatality rate warrants careful analysis of whether reduced training hours, less frequent operational exposure, and aging apparatus contribute to elevated risk.
The Fiscal Reality of Transition
Communities confronting inadequate volunteer response increasingly consider transitioning to combination (volunteer plus career) or all-career staffing models. The fiscal implications are substantial.
A single career firefighter costs a municipality approximately $70,000 to $120,000 annually in salary, benefits, and associated overhead. Staffing a single engine company on a 24/7 basis requires a minimum of four full-time firefighters (accounting for shift scheduling, leave, and training time), producing annual personnel costs of $280,000 to $480,000 per apparatus.
For small towns and rural communities operating on budgets measured in the low millions, these figures are often prohibitive. The choice between inadequate volunteer coverage and unaffordable career staffing is a dilemma for which there is no comfortable answer.
Federal Support: SAFER Grants and Their Limits
The federal government's primary tool for addressing fire service staffing is the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program, administered by FEMA. SAFER provides funding for both career hiring and volunteer recruitment and retention initiatives.
SAFER grants have helped hundreds of departments. They fund recruitment campaigns, provide stipends for volunteers during training periods, and can cover a portion of career hiring costs for a limited period (typically three to four years). However, the program has structural limitations:
- Temporary funding: SAFER grants are time-limited. Departments that hire career staff with SAFER funding must absorb the full cost when the grant period expires. For departments that cannot sustain the cost, this creates a staffing cliff.
- Competitive process: Demand consistently exceeds available funding. Many departments that apply do not receive awards.
- Administrative burden: The application and reporting requirements can be challenging for small, volunteer-run departments with limited administrative capacity.
SAFER remains an important resource, and departments exploring it should review our guide on how to become a firefighter, which includes information on department hiring processes that SAFER supports.
Policy Recommendations
Having spent 30 years in the fire service, including 12 as a chief navigating these exact challenges, I offer the following policy recommendations for departments, municipalities, and state legislatures:
1. Tiered Certification Pathways
States should develop tiered volunteer certification options that allow individuals to serve in limited-scope roles (e.g., exterior operations only, driver/operator, fire police) with reduced training hour requirements. This lowers the barrier to entry while maintaining safety standards for the functions performed.
2. Tax Incentives with Teeth
Several states offer modest property tax credits or income tax deductions for active volunteer firefighters. These incentives should be expanded to meaningful levels. A $500 tax credit does not offset the hundreds of hours a volunteer commits. States should consider credits in the $2,000 to $5,000 range for members who meet activity thresholds.
3. Length-of-Service Award Programs (LOSAPs)
LOSAPs provide a retirement-type benefit to volunteers based on years of service. These programs create a long-term retention incentive and acknowledge the career-length commitment many volunteers make. Municipalities that do not offer a LOSAP should evaluate implementation.
4. Employer Incentive Programs
Employers who release workers to respond to emergency calls deserve recognition and support. Tax incentives for businesses that accommodate volunteer firefighters could reduce one of the most significant barriers to daytime availability.
5. Regional Consolidation Studies
Small departments struggling to maintain viability should explore regional consolidation options. Merging two or three departments into a single, better-resourced organization can improve response capability, reduce duplication, and create a more sustainable operational model.
The Opportunity Within the Crisis
It would be irresponsible to frame this issue solely in terms of decline. The volunteer firefighter crisis is also creating significant career opportunities across the fire service.
As the IAFF has documented, departments that are transitioning to career or combination models are hiring. The demand for qualified firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics is robust in virtually every region of the country. For individuals considering public safety careers, the labor market has rarely been more favorable.
Beyond suppression roles, the fire service offers career paths in inspection, investigation, prevention, dispatch, administration, and emergency management. Our comprehensive career guides cover the qualifications, compensation, and day-to-day realities of each pathway. For those preparing for entry-level examinations, the firefighter exam practice quiz provides realistic preparation for the written assessment component.
A Call for Honest Assessment
The volunteer fire service is not dying. It is evolving under pressure, as it has throughout its history. But the evolution requires honest assessment of the challenges, realistic expectations about what policy interventions can achieve, and a willingness to consider structural changes that previous generations did not face.
Communities that rely on volunteer firefighters owe them more than gratitude. They owe them adequate funding, reasonable training expectations, meaningful retention incentives, and a willingness to confront the question of whether the current model can be sustained—or whether a new model is required.
The data tells us where we are. Policy will determine where we go. And the decisions made in the next five to ten years will shape American fire protection for a generation.