If your department is like most volunteer or combination departments in the U.S., you struggle to maintain the staffing needed to provide the adequate level of service to your community. The numbers are clear. The National Fire Protection Association reports that in 1984 there were 897,750 volunteer firefighters, and that in 2013 there were 786, 150. This is a 12 percent decrease. In that same time period, call volume has tripled, largely due to increased medical emergency calls.

Why are we having problems recruiting new members? There are a lot of factors, including increased demands on people’s time, increased training requirements, and geographical shifts as people move away from smaller communities for job opportunities...