Fewer Volunteers Concern OH Fire Departments

Jan. 24—The “help wanted” ad for the Cridersville Volunteer Fire Department in Auglaize County is as honest as it can be.

“Odd hours, no pay, cool hat,” it shared in a Facebook post.

It’s one of a few different advertisements out there for Cridersville’s volunteer firefighters, chief Rick Miller said, with hopes of boosting its 31-person roster of volunteers that answered 823 ambulance calls and 137 fire calls in 2024.

“We’re always looking for members,” Miller said. “Any volunteer department in the area that says they’re not and they’re full, they’re not telling you the whole story. Everybody’s struggling with the same issue. You have to find the right people.”

From 2018 to 2021, there was a 6.5% decrease in the number of volunteer firefighters, all while there was a 9% increase in calls between 2018 and 2020, according to the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of the State Fire Marshal. That’s meaningful statewide, as 74% of fire services provided in Ohio came from volunteer fire departments.

It’s a game of dwindling numbers of how many people might answer the call when those tones go out, summoning the volunteers to a fire or accident scene. Many volunteer departments struggle to get crews out for fires, car accidents or ambulance runs to homes and nursing homes during the daytime, when many volunteers have full-time jobs.

While a handful of new recruits come in, more could be on their way out at any time, said Ryan Kerner, chief of the Kalida Volunteer Fire Department in Putnam County.

“There are guys who’ve helped for 25 to 30 years in here. They’ve done their time, and they could leave at any moment,” said Kerner, who said his department has 33 volunteers but works best in the high 30s. “If that should happen, we’ll be under serious duress.”

Identifying the problem

Ohio issued a 31-page report two years ago following the work of the Ohio Task Force on Volunteer Fire Service. It identified volunteers paying for their own training or personal protective equipment as barriers for volunteers.

Several area departments said those weren’t factors here, as their villages, townships or fire districts paid for both the training and equipment. The trick is finding the right person, said Craig Fischer, chief of the Pandora-Riley Township Volunteer Fire Department in Putnam County.

“When they do join up, they do tend to stick around for a good, long while,” Fischer said. “It’s all up front, spelled out for them essentially. What we’re requiring from them is a two-year commitment to us, to pay for their training.”

It’s a national problem that must be solved locally, said Scott King, bureau chief of the Ohio Fire Academy in Reynoldsburg. He noted in 1984, there were 897,000 volunteer firefighters registered nationally, with that number dropping to 676,000 in 2020.

“You’re helping support your community, which is one of the drivers to be a volunteer firefighter,” said King, who has 35 years experience in fire-related service. “It’s a time commitment and time away from family and things of that nature.”

It’s a tough commitment, Miller said.

“A lot of it is about what kind of volunteer this is,” Cridersville’s chief said. “It’s a guy who goes to work for a 40-hour-a -week job, then he may be out all night on a house fire, get home at 6 a.m. and go back to work at 7:30 on an hour and a half of sleep.”

Some departments do pay a per-run stipend, but it can work out to below minimum wage when you’re on the scene for a complicated accident or a fast-burning house fire.

While it’s easy to point fingers at the youngest members as being the least reliable, Kerner noted he fears losing experienced volunteers.

“We have those in that 10- to 15-year range of service, when their lives pick up and their kids are more involved in things,” Kerner said. “It’s a cycle of life. At that point, they kind of feel like they’re not providing the service they want to personally provide, so they back away.”

He said he urges those firefighters to keep volunteering as much as they can in that stretch of life, as they’re still valuable volunteers when their children are grown up and they have more free time.

Finding a solution

Like any organization with vacancies, a little imagination goes a long way for area fire chiefs.

On Tuesday night, Kerner received permission to create a junior cadet program in Kalida. It would bring 16- to 18-year-olds to the fire station to help at work nights and be part of the trainings. They wouldn’t go to active accident or fire scenes yet.

“The plan is to keep them in a controlled environment and buddy them up with active personnel in a one-to-one scenario and get that exposure to see what it’s all about,” Kerner said. “It gives them a taste to see if they should choose to volunteer for us.”

To become a firefighter, someone must be 18 years old and receive a certification as a firefighter or emergency medical provider. Most departments help provide the necessary training.

The region is particularly lucky to have Apollo Career Center to help feed the pipeline of potential firefighters, Miller said, noting the popularity of the fire training program there, which is run by firefighters.

There are also a slew of advertisements on social media, including Facebook, to recruit. A website also exists to recruit firefighters, with 16 volunteer departments within 30 miles of Lima listing their needs on MakeMeAFirefighter.org.

“Volunteer firefighters wanted,” reads one notice, for the St. Marys Township Fire Department in Auglaize County. “Little to no pay.” Then it offers contact information for the department’s chief and a standing invitation to stop out at the state, 10752 state Route 364, St. Marys, at 7 p.m. any Wednesday to take a tour.

The state also hired a statewide volunteer coordinator, Josh Lewis,who tries to share the best ideas statewide on how to recruit the next generation of firefighters, King said. The Ohio Fire Academy had nearly 14,000 firefighters, EMS personnel and fist responders go through its trainings last year, but there are also “close-to-home” trainings to limit the stresses on volunteers.

“We’ve been building out recruitment and retention programs to help find ways for each department locally to recruit more firefighters and even volunteers outside firefighters,” King said. “People from the outside public can come in and help that local fire department, whether it’s with social media, help with general budgeting and bookkeeping or even … something like providing Gatorade and water to support firefighters during an emergency.”

Loving the reward

The reward changes as you grow through different stages of life, the fire chiefs agreed.

“When you’re in your 20s, it’s the greatest thing in the world, with all the lights and sirens and everybody looking at you,” Miller said.

As you grow older, it becomes part of your family, Fischer said.

“It’s a great way to give back to your community,” he said. “At the fire station, we’re like a family. Everybody knows everybody, and everybody’s treated with respect. It’s a brotherhood, essentially.”

You’re also providing a service when people need you most, Kerner said.

“It’s about helping and being there for people when they’re having their worst moment,” he said. “It’s knowing you can’t completely fix or erase their current situation, but you can at least help make it better.”

Reach David Trinko at 567-242-0467 or on Twitter/X @Lima_Trinko.

Featured Local Savings

© 2025 The Lima News (Lima, Ohio). Visit www.limaohio.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Wichita (KS) Launches Firefighter Wellness Initiative to Combat Cancer

Wichita Fire Station One kicked off a firefighter wellness initiative to begin providing yearly cancer screenings for Wichita firefighters.

New Bill Aims to Expand Cancer Death Benefits for NC Firefighters

A new bill working its way through the North Carolina General Assembly would expand death benefits for firefighters diagnosed with cancer.