The Guardian: Firefighting departments close in some US states amid lack of volunteers
"...Officials have warned of serious consequences after the number of volunteer firefighters, the bedrock of firefighting in the US, plunged, leading to entire departments closing in some states...."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/22/us-fire-departments-volunteer-firefighters
#firefighting #publicsafety #ems
Firefighting departments close in some US states amid lack of volunteers
About 65% of US firefighters are volunteers, as New York state says number has fallen to lowest level in 40 years
Need to pay people. It's something I wanted to do, but the time commitment was basically a full time second job which meant giving up any life I had outside of work. If I got paid, maybe worth it. Fire/EMS is the only thing we expect people to for free that should be paid.
AI6YR Ben
Mountain Visions