Volunteer shortages a worry for fire departments across county
MIDDLESEX TWP — The Adams Area Fire District’s roster lists approximately 75 names in total, but despite the on-paper numbers, the department — like many others across the state and country — faces a shortage of volunteers.
“The biggest time that we see (shortages) is Monday through Friday when everyone is at work,” Chief Tim Llewellyn said. “There are days when there is one firefighter in the whole entire community, and there are days when there are no firefighters in the whole entire community. And that’s the sad, scary part.”
Llewellyn describes the department’s membership as “robust,” but says that numbers tend to vary at the large fire station along Route 228.
“We have several classes of membership, and we may not see all of those people in a month,” he said. “They may only come for a little bit. We have a lot of people who volunteer with us who live in other communities.”
While Adams is managing now, Llewellyn fears the day that “something bad” happens when not enough firefighters are around during daytime hours.
“The big accidents, the garbage truck into the building (last Friday), happened when a lot of people were around. Had that happened in the middle of the day, the response would have been very different,” he said. “There would have been a lot less people there to do the job.”
Most of Butler County’s fire departments are staffed by volunteers who also have full-time jobs during the day. The volunteer model is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain, Llewellyn said.
“We’ve always been a volunteer department. I think in previous years, there may have been more individuals who were shift workers, and we don’t see a lot of that anymore of people who are willing to do the volunteering,” he said. “The solution is not necessarily to me more volunteers, because how much is too much for volunteers?”
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