What Happened to All of the Volunteers?

After a busy day at work, it’s close to 11:00 p.m. on a Thursday night, and you just fell asleep. Suddenly, the pager goes off for a working structure fire in your first-due area.

You are new to being in charge, after the prior chief resigned following many years of service.

You arrive at the station to find that four other volunteers have already arrived. Predictably, it’s the same four who usually respond to calls and participate in training and fundraisers. Two of them are your senior officers.

You sense a feeling of dread filling the air, the knowledge that it will be a long night with very little help, because no other volunteers are arriving. It’s disheartening when you think about the fact that nearby stations have an abundance of volunteers.

As the chief, your mind races with thoughts of what you possibly could do differently to get new members to join your all-volunteer fire crew.

You review the facts in your head. Only one fundraiser per month. Training generally is once per week. Your station doesn’t run that many calls, so why the lack of interest? Your company has various pieces of equipment that offer plenty of opportunities for new members to pick an area that interests them, instead of just suppression.

What are you doing wrong?

Maybe it’s time to ask for help, or it could be time to make a change to the leadership structure. It might be time to change the way things are done instead of “We always do it this way.”

Within the firehouse

A good place to start is to listen to current members. Try not to be so quick to discount their ideas; they might have a great idea to bring more members into the company.

Even though it’s common practice, remember not to rely on the same few members who make all of the decisions, regardless of whether they are officers. It’s important to make all of the members feel valued.

Consider ways to reward the members who you have. Invest in their health. Offer wellness events, such as health screenings, including tips to ensure that your members are in the best shape to handle those emergency calls. This can be done by including fitness training, such as firefighter fitness workouts that replicate tasks that are utilized during suppression or other emergency responses.

Often, fitness and wellness are set aside, with the thought that if someone is thin that individual is in great shape, which isn’t always the case.

Look at the statistics. There are too many LODDs. Maybe if companies offer the chance to work out as an incentive, that number could decrease. Further, it will show on an individual basis that a company does care about each member and is invested in members’ health.

You can take advantage of this opportunity, too, which might encourage the members to participate when they see the officers readily taking part in the wellness initiative.

Outside of the department

Regarding the public, you might have to be a bit creative.

Your company can offer ways for young kids to get involved, such as camp or starting a “day out with a firefighter”.

Often, young men and young women were the little boys and girls who became excited when they saw the fire trucks, and they never really lost that excitement, but they don’t know how to get involved, or perhaps they need a reminder of that excitement. You can invite them to fire company activities and/or training. More importantly, you must demonstrate a welcoming environment.

Unfortunately, this is a time when people are extremely busy with work and family, but if you entice just one person to become involved, chances are that you might get a family member (or more) to join, and they could help with fundraising or other activities.

Perhaps you can go to the local school, particularly during college recruitment days.

If your town has various activities throughout the year, plan to be a part of those. It’s a great way to meet and interact with residents and to show them that you do more than just respond to an emergency.

Does your fire company pay for training? If not, you can offer scholarships for classes to help to defray the costs for new recruits as well as your current members.

Don’t give up

I understand that a shortage of volunteers might be frustrating to endure. However, with some simple changes and new ideas, this can be turned around, and you will gain some new members.