Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Randy Leizear Jr. on October 10, 2008 at 11:15am

What are you refering to when you say wearing many hats that you have to do many different things on the fire ground or you are the chief and the captian?

Permalink Reply by Karl Campbell on October 19, 2008 at 1:22pm

We have a sign out front and since installatuion 4 yrs ago we have been at full compliment and found the sign brought alot of attention to the issue, we give our members free use of equipment/hall and if they have a pool we don't charge them for water, also try involving their immediate family and have them involved with parades and have a "famillies get together". Once you get a full department you can continue to gather applications on file so if some members are not working out you can deal with them quickly and give some one else a chance. Hope this helps take care and Good Luck.

Permalink Reply by Chief 29 on December 9, 2008 at 11:13am

Try becoming more visible to the public. A sign asking for volunteers could help, along with possibly a news letter sent to the surrounding area explaining your situation. Remind people that you don't have to be a firefighter to help out. You might want to try recruiting at the local High School. Start a Cadet/Junior program if you already don't have one.
Just a few ideas to try.

Permalink Reply by david scheuerman on December 25, 2009 at 8:10pm

we have tried some ideas but it is tough to recruit now a days. with the ever demanding training not many people especially high school and college kids want to spend almost three months of training to join a fire department. that is just the very first training and more to follow. plus all the yearly osha training and physical, etc. being a volunteer is tough. it costs a dedicated person alot of money to be in the fire department. plus if you have a family you do not see you kids much. i love the fire service but not everyone feels the same and i believe that is why they do not join. kids would rather party than train now a days. the old school fireman are no more or are far and few between. maybe someday things will change and we once again have a surplus of fireman. until then we do what we can with staffing. including wearing more than one hat. you do what you have to on a fire scene to get the job done and there is always mutual aid. good luck to everyone