Rural Nebraska fire departments struggle to recruit, retain volunteers

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Rural fire departments across the state are facing volunteer shortages, a Nebraska Public Media survey says.

The poll found that 59% of respondents think those shortages could hurt their local department’s quality of service.

Meanwhile, 84% of survey takers said the demand for rural fire departments has increased in the last five years.

Firth Fire Chief Doug Doeschot said rural fire crews are struggling to recruit and retain volunteers.

“It’s getting to be less because, obviously, families are smaller and people move away from the little towns that they grew up in,” he said. “When I was a kid, everybody was on the fire department.”

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Nebraska Public Media’s survey results also showed that 8 in 10 respondents think the main reason that people don’t volunteer is the time commitment.

Doeschot said most volunteers have full-time jobs outside the department.

“There’s very few people in the world nowadays that can afford to not work, unless they’re of retirement age” he said. “And then going into burning buildings when you’re over 60 is not something you want to try and make a habit of.”

Doeschot also said part of the difficulty is that volunteers need just as much training as paid firefighters.

The amount of training you need depends on whether you want to be a firefighter or emergency medical technician — and on the different certifications for both — but he said it’s usually over 100 hours.

Despite this, Doeschot said most people are capable of becoming a firefighter.

“It’s not like it’s brain surgery,” he said. “Anybody can do it. We have people from all walks of life that are part of our department.”

Aaron Hofeling, a lieutenant with Eagle Fire & Rescue, said while the department doesn’t have a shortage, its call volume has increased to nearly 200 per year.

He said recruitment is all about getting involved in the community and making people aware that firefighters are needed.

“If they don’t know you exist, you’re not going to be able to reach hardly anyone,” Hofeling said. “The more the community can see you out there doing what you do best, I think really drives that recruitment effort.”

Both firefighters said as the state’s population increases, there will be more crashes, fires and emergencies — increasing the need for volunteers.