Some folks on their day off from work are responding to medical emergencies and putting out burning buildings. They’re the volunteer firefighters who keep many areas safe year-round, but they are now in need of more recruits, especially from Gen Z.
“Depending on where you are in the country, between 60% and 80% of the firefighters in any given community are volunteers,” said Shawn Stokes, the fire chief for the Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department and an officer with the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
The fire chiefs association has launched a campaign called “A Hustle Worth Having” that’s targeting the younger generation, with hopes of helping volunteer fire departments around the country attract new recruits through social media campaigns and marketing materials.
“How do they identify with the 20-year-olds that are coming in? That’s really a core demographic that we’re looking for,” Stokes said. “A big part of the program is to provide tools for us to be able to identify with and be attractive to the newer generation, the younger generation to want to come and volunteer, because that’s our future.”
Stokes said over the years, it has become harder and harder to recruit ready volunteers. He theorized that people usually have a busier life than previous decades and many are working in areas where they do not live, making it harder for daylight EMT and fire service.
“I just saw a video the other day where a single firefighter pulled up, pulled the line, charged it, made an initial attack on a mobile home fire because he was the only person out there,” Stokes said.
While there is a strong history of volunteer fire service in the D.C. area, Stokes said the majority of the work is handled by career firefighters and EMTs. The most vulnerable departments are in more rural areas, such as western Virginia and Maryland.
“In a majority of the communities by a square mileage basis across the country, if the volunteers don’t show up, the fire truck doesn’t go out the door,” Stokes told WTOP.
It is a reason Kim Burns, an EMT in Dunn Loring, began volunteering. The full-time United Airlines pilot is originally from North Dakota and her hometown depended on the volunteer fire service.
“I had a family member that was affected by it and I saw that probably gave that family member an extra year and a half of life,” Burns said.
Volunteering to become a firefighter is not for the faint of heart. It requires commitment and dedication, according to Stokes. Training in Fairfax County can last up to 18 months, but afterward, volunteers will have the full qualifications of a career firefighter. Most volunteers put in 250 to 300 hours a year.
“This isn’t, ‘I get a certification, and then two or three times a year I show up and ride a fire truck.’ This is something that you have to be current on, and something that you have to be committed to,” said Stokes, adding that it was a lifestyle.
And while volunteering can be tough, Stokes argued that it is the most rewarding opportunity in most people’s lives.
“You are the person there to help somebody on their worst day, and almost everybody that we see is having their worst day. Nobody calls 911 because something isn’t wrong,” Stokes said.
“We can help them physically, but we can also help them mentally and give them dignity, and also the family members that we’re dealing with,” Burns added.
Michael Van Dyke, a volunteer fire officer, told WTOP, “The thing that attracted me to it is the opportunity to do something, frankly, that wasn’t sitting at a desk eight hours a day because that isn’t good for me long term, and I don’t think it’s good for anybody long term. It was an opportunity to give back.”
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