Difficult shortages of volunteer firefighters in the US and Canada - recruitment crucial for wildfire fighting

"The constraints on today’s working families makes it impossible for many people to serve in any type of volunteer capacity, let alone as a Volunteer Firefighter. Another key factor as to why people do not join a fire service is that it is an on-demand service, as well as being a dangerous occupation." 

Tyler J. Moffitt
Fire Chief – Fort Frances Fire Rescue Service

According to data from the National Volunteer Fire Council, the number of volunteer firefighters in the US numbered nearly 898,000 in 1984. The number was down to only around 677,000 in 2020. - However the call volume to the same departments has tripled, reports the BBC.

The call volume increased from less than 12 million nationwide in 1986, to more than 36.6 million calls in 2021.

The article paints a grim picture if more volunteers are not recruited. US Census data from 2020 shows that 76% of the 19,500 incorporated towns or cities in the US have fewer than 5,000 residents, and 42% have fewer than 500.

Many less populated states are almost entirely protected by volunteers. Steve Hirsch, chair and Kansas State Director of the National Volunteer Fire Council, volunteers "probably protect 85% of the state of Kansas". 

In Iowa, the figure is 92%. In Minnesota, paid-on-call or volunteer firefighters comprise 97.5% of the state's firefighting force.

Lori Moore-Merrell, who oversees the US Fire Administration (USFA) as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), says to the BBC that about 85% of the US population is protected by career departments. Yet that still leaves 15% of the country protected by volunteers.

These are precisely the areas that struggle to find recruitment. 

This is of course not unusual -  Many European countries also rely on volunteers, as well as Australia.

However, the BBC argues - the situation in the US is particularly difficult because of the large geographic area. 

NewsNationNow.com wrote in September 2023, that volunteer fire departments in the US face an ongoing staffing shortage. 

Steve Hirsch, chairman of the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), said there’s no “cookie-cutter” solution that will fix the problem entirely. Instead, he emphasized a multifaceted approach focused on building awareness, highlighting the benefits and finding new ways to recruit and retain volunteers.

On January 26, 2024,  FirefighterCloseCalls.com wrote of The Dire Shortage of Volunteer Firefighters, citing the BBC-article above.  

Are volunteer firefighters a dying breed? That question is being asked on the blog FireServiceRota.com. 

 "Long gone are the days when fathers, brothers and sons were part of the same volunteer fire departments. It was a long-standing tradition for families to serve their communities for nothing else than the pride of helping their neighbours out. In the past 30 years, the number of volunteer firefighters in the United States has dropped by arouund 11 percent.", the blog writes. 

Volunteers crucial in wildfire fighting

The situation is similar, and in some ways even more pronounced in Canada, where the ratio geographic area to population is even more extreme.  

Like CTIF.org reported in May 2023, Canada is experiencing a shortage of firefighters, and small remote communities are especially short of volunteers. "It´s bad", says the fire chief of St. Louis, in a plea for help to recruit more firefighters. 

The Fort Frances Times wrote on January 24 that Canadian fire services face increasing staff challenges and shortages. 

 Fire Chief  Tyler J. Moffitt of the Fort Frances Fire Rescue Service wrote that the shortage of Firefighters across Canada is a growing crisis, as well as a disaster. In 2016, when he became Fire Chief, there were over 126,000 volunteer firefighters in Canada. In 2023, that number diminished by over 37,000.

"The constraints on today’s working families makes it impossible for many people to serve in any type of volunteer capacity, let alone as a Volunteer Firefighter. Another key factor as to why people do not join a fire service is that it is an on-demand service, as well as being a dangerous occupation", he wrote.

Volunteer firefighter shortage putting communities at risk, the CBC wrote in June 2023, interviewing Chief Craig Ramsey of the Petitcodiac Fire Department in New Brunswick.

With the recent wildfires in Canada during fire season 2023, volunteers were crucial, and a large part of the wildfire fighting is based on seasonal volunteers.  

Months before the wildfire season started, the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CFAC)  had warned of diminishing numbers of both career and volunteer firefighters across the country, Global News wrote already on June 11, 2023. 

The CFAC president Ken McMullen said more resources were needed:  

“There’s definitely a shortfall. There’s no doubt about it,” he told Global News in an interview.

Firefighting In Canada wrote already in December 2023 that New data captures a Canadian fire service in crisis. 

Falling volunteer numbers, increasing call volumes, fiscal challenges, and firefighting’s reclassification into the top tier of carcinogenic jobs are some of the key factors putting on the pressure.

“We are asking the federal government to send a clear a message to this country’s firefighters – and to all Canadians in Budget 2024 – that they will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in ensuring the retention of essential personnel by increasing the volunteer firefighter and search and rescue tax credit. This is a realistic, affordable and necessary step to put Canada first as we approach the next wildfire season,” said CAFC president, Fire Chief Ken McMullen.

Photo Credit: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Elizabeth Thurston 

U.S. Marines and volunteer firefighters wait to show children the inside of a fire truck during the annual family day in Garden City, N.Y., Aug. 5, 2016. The function is organized to meet the families of Marines and build a stronger bond within the unit

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