Building to Recruit and Retain vs. the Cost of Doing Nothing

Note: This article is part of the Firehouse 2025 Station Design Supplement. To read the entire supplement, click here.

The volunteer fire service long has been the backbone of fire protection in the United States in small towns and rural communities. Across the country, volunteers comprise approximately 70 percent of fire department membership and respond to emergencies to protect life and property at minimal cost to taxpayers. Unfortunately, the landscape of volunteerism is shifting, and the decline in the number of volunteer firefighters is an existential crisis for many communities.

It can cost a department more than $1 million to operate a single engine across three shifts. Adding EMS service or a second apparatus can push this cost beyond $2 million. When communities neglect their emergency service infrastructure and fail to retain volunteers, they eventually face an unavoidable financial reckoning.

Decline of volunteerism

Of course, volunteer departments and their communities rely on the willingness of individuals to dedicate their time and energy to serve. However, recruitment and retention have become increasingly complex. Several factors contribute to this decline: 

• Changing workforce demands. More individuals work multiple jobs or commute longer distances, which reduce their availability to respond to calls.
• Increased training requirements. Although necessary, the growing complexity of fire and EMS training demands more time and effort, which makes volunteer service less feasible for many.
• Aging membership. The average age of volunteer firefighters continues to rise, with fewer young recruits stepping up to replace those who retire.
• Competing priorities. Family obligations, extracurricular activities, intensive youth sports and other commitments compete for potential volunteers’ time and attention.
• Lack of incentives. Without compensation, retirement benefits and/or adequate facilities, convincing individuals to dedicate themselves to volunteering becomes more difficult.

The increase in calls for service, coupled with the decline of volunteerism, isn’t just an internal challenge for departments. It’s a communitywide issue that will result in significant financial and operational consequences if left unchecked.

Stations’ overlooked role

Every department needs several key elements to function effectively: funding, sound leadership, apparatus, personnel, proper training and, crucially, a station from which to operate. However, the station often is overlooked as a critical factor in recruitment and retention.

In fact, the U.S. Fire Administration’s “2023 Retention and Recruitment for the Volunteer Emergency Services” barely mentions fire stations in the context of facility conditions.
A station is more than just a building; it’s the home base for firefighters, a training ground, and a gathering place that fosters camaraderie and commitment. Yet, many volunteer departments operate out of outdated, inefficient or hazardous facilities. These facilities often fail to meet modern safety and operational standards and lack space that incentivizes participation and occupancy. Ultimately, this has proved to deter new members and diminish the pride and morale of existing ones.

A well-designed station can transform a department’s capability to recruit and retain personnel. Modern stations provide:

• Comfortable/functional living spaces to accommodate volunteers during shifts.
• Adequate training areas to foster continual education and skill development.
• Safe and healthy environments that include proper ventilation, decontamination spaces and gender-inclusive facilities.
• Community engagement spaces that help to recruit younger generations and foster relationships with residents.

If volunteer departments want to sustain their ranks, they must address the fundamental infrastructure that supports their personnel. Ignoring facility requirements or taking shortcuts is a fast track to becoming obsolete.

Funding challenge

The greatest obstacle to constructing modern stations is funding. Elected officials, particularly in smaller communities, often operate within short-term, four-year cycles within which levying additional fees or taxes is politically unpalatable. Large capital projects, such as a fire station, frequently are considered secondary to other budgetary concerns. The numbers that are associated with the former often are entirely disproportionate to what the average person can relate to, so the idea of building a station can be scary.

The problem is that failing to invest in a fire station often results in a far more significant financial burden in the long run. When a volunteer department collapses because of recruitment and retention struggles, the municipality often must pivot to a career fire department, which is an exponentially more expensive transition. Many municipalities are accustomed to the low-cost operations of a volunteer department. However, panic sets in as volunteer staffing dwindles and emergency response times suffer. Time and time again, we’ve seen this movie. The script often goes like this:

• Hiring a fire chief. A paid chief is initially brought in to stabilize operations.
• Consolidation. Multiple failing volunteer fire companies often are consolidated into a singular department, which is a move that arguably addresses the symptom but not the problem.
• Transitioning to career staff. As volunteer numbers decline, paid personnel gradually are introduced.
• Unionization and workforce expansion. Career firefighters understandably seek fair wages, benefits and safe working conditions, which increases operational costs.
• Facility overhaul. The inadequate volunteer fire station, which already is unsuitable for modern demands, now must be upgraded significantly or a new station must be constructed to accommodate the safe and functional working conditions that career staff require.

This sequence of events is predictable, yet many municipalities fail to account for the long-term costs of inaction. By waiting until a crisis, they incur a massive financial burden that could have been mitigated through proactive investment.

Proactive vs. reactive

Instead of reacting to the collapse of volunteer departments, municipalities should consider a more proactive approach:

• Investing in facilities now. Constructing a modern station that’s designed to support volunteer recruitment can extend the viability of a volunteer model.
• Enhancing training and living quarters. Providing volunteers with quality spaces increases engagement and commitment. Providing individual spaces promotes the inclusion of women, who are a large portion of the population that’s historically excluded from the volunteer fire service.
• Planning for the future. A properly designed fire station that’s built today can be career-ready if needed in the future, which ensures a smooth transition if paid staff eventually become necessary.

A well-designed, $10 million station that supports volunteerism in small and rural communities can pay for itself in as few as five years compared with transitioning to a fully paid department. The financial, operational and community benefits of investing in a facility before a crisis unfolds are undeniable.

Building for the future

The reality is simple: Communities will pay for fire protection one way or another. They can either invest in the infrastructure that’s necessary to sustain volunteerism now, face an exponentially more significant financial burden when their department collapses or lose immediately located service altogether. When a community transitions to a career model, everything becomes due at once.

The cost of doing nothing is staggering. Beyond the financial toll, communities suffer from decreased response times, potential loss of life and property, and the erosion of public trust.
Investing in a modern, well-designed station isn’t a luxury but a necessity. Such a facility is a recruitment tool, training center and operational hub that ensures a department’s longevity. Even in the worst-case scenario in which volunteerism continues to decline, communities that invest today will have capital assets ready to accommodate future career needs at a discounted cost compared with having to build in the future when the effects of economic escalation come due.

Fire service leaders, policymakers and architects must collaborate to shift the conversation. Instead of viewing a fire station as an unnecessary expense, it should be recognized as a strategic investment that yields long-term benefits.

Communities that embrace this mindset will recruit and retain the next generation of volunteer firefighters and secure their future in the most fiscally responsible way possible. If a community believes that it can’t afford to plan to build now, the struggle will be even greater in the future. Neglect all but ensures failure.