Small rural fire departments across North Carolina are struggling to recruit volunteer firefighters and pay for the rising cost of equipment. That’s prompting the state legislature to look more closely at the future of firefighting.
More than 70% of the state’s fire departments are staffed primarily by volunteers. But with newcomers moving in without close community ties, and long commutes for work in rural communities, fewer people are signing up.
"Volunteerism in general has changed so much over the years," said Barry Overman, executive director of the State Firefighters Association and a longtime member of the Weeksville Volunteer Fire Department in Pasquotank County. "Trying to keep volunteers on a roster and keep them active is becoming more and more of a crisis for communities across the state."
When departments don’t have enough firefighters to respond to calls, dispatchers will send a crew from a more distant station, which can lead to longer response times. Longer average response times, in turn, can affect insurance ratings that determine how much homeowners pay in their premiums.
Some short-staffed rural departments are merging or shutting down completely. State Fire Marshal Brian Taylor says county governments are then responsible for making sure every community has coverage.
"I think everybody needs to be assured that no one is ever going to go unprotected," he said.
Taylor says many departments have had to hire paid firefighters to answer calls during daytime hours when their volunteers are stuck at work.
"We don't have that local service station owner or local farmer in town, but they're able to pay someone to stay at that fire station, and it'll still be a volunteer fire department," he said.
Cost increases are also a problem for small volunteer departments. Overman says the price of a standard fire truck has increased dramatically since 2018.
"You could get one between $375,000 to $500,000 and now, seven years later, that same exact truck is just under a million dollars," Overman said.
The Office of State Fire Marshal provides grants to help, but Taylor says its funding isn’t enough to cover all the needs.
"Generally, we have about $13 million in requests, and anywhere from $9 to $10 million is what we are able to fund," he said. The state legislature has also included direct grants to some departments in recent years' budget bills, but not every department has been able to get a share.
The state House unanimously passed a bill earlier this year to launch a study of rural firefighting issues. The study would look at strategies to recruit more volunteers, funding for trucks and equipment, as well as the toll of firefighting on physical and mental health. It calls for the state fire marshal to "suggest funding and other legislative actions needed to keep those fire departments fiscally sound and mission effective."
Rep. Reece Pyrtle, R-Rockingham, sponsored the bill. "What we hope to find out is, what does firefighting look like in 2030, in 2035?" he told WUNC. "What does it look like in rural North Carolina?"
One strategy is to work with kids and teens to get them interested in firefighting. Taylor says some departments now host summer camps.
"Unless they had a father or grandfather in it, or mother, there's not a lot of interest, unless you get them early," he said. "I was drawn to it at age 12. I knew from that point on, going to the volunteer fire department in my area, that I wanted to become a fireman."
He says the training requirements can make the work less appealing for volunteers.
"To truly have a certified firefighter, it would take over 400 hours and probably two years to complete, so it's very time consuming," he said.
Rural fire departments are also busier than they used to be. Overman says his small department in Pasquotank County responds to four times the number of incidents as it did when he started in the 1980s.
"You see an uptick in calls, whether it be wrecks, fire alarm activations, just so many calls now that they respond to," he said.
If rural departments aren’t able to recruit more volunteers, Taylor says county governments could end up with the bill for paid firefighters.
"I think within eight to 10 years, that counties are going to take over these services, and it's going to be a burden to the taxpayer," he said.
Pyrtle says he’s hopeful that the state Senate will soon sign off on the bill to create the study. "I hope the solution comes from this study, and we can evaluate what we can do and when we can do it," he added.
