America's fire departments face staffing shortages as volunteer ranks fall and calls surge
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 10
America's fire departments face staffing shortages as volunteer ranks fall and calls surge
10 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 10
Jason Cerrano of IDEX Fire and Safety said volunteers fell from about 900,000 to 700,000 in two decades, while full-time jobs rose by only 30,000 to 40,000.
He warned thinner crews increase risks at fires and crashes, leaving fewer people to spot hazards in unstable scenes and potentially undermining community and firefighter safety nationwide.
Cerrano said departments must modernise recruiting and workplace culture to attract Gen Z, while expanding technology use and volunteer roles beyond frontline firefighting to improve retention.
As volunteer firefighter numbers plummet, will taxpayers have to fund a fully professional, and far more expensive, emergency service nationwide?
Is the firefighter shortage a public safety issue, or a symptom of a deeper crisis in American community engagement?
Can robots and AI truly save lives in understaffed fire departments, or are they a costly distraction from the human crisis?