NY firefighter ranks hit 40-year low. Will paying volunteers fix shortage?
Nearly half a dozen volunteer-based firehouses across New York closed their doors last year due to a lack of staffing, as the ranks of volunteer firefighters fell to the lowest level in 40 years, fire officials say.
That's why members of leading firefighter groups gathered inside the state Capitol on Wednesday, March 4, to push for compensation for mandatory, on-duty fire personnel staffing firehouses to help both the firefighters and the communities they serve. They warned, in part, that current volunteer shortages increased the risk of delays in emergency response times.
"The system, as it exists right now for both career and volunteer fire service, is struggling in not all, but in many, of our locations across the state," says David Denniston, who is the first vice president of the Association of Fire Districts and past chief of the Cortlandville Fire Department.
Here's why firefighters are pushing to pay volunteer members.
https://www.recordonline.com/story/news/2026/03/05/ny-firefighter-ranks-hit-40-year-low-sparking-push-to-pay-volunteers/88978152007/]
I have 52 yrs in the fire service and served as an elected Fire Commissioner. Volunteerism is down years past life revolved around the firehouse in communities, now its a struggle no one hangs out much. The communities are getting larger and people have many other interests. Even the paid service is struggling.