RecruitNY Calling for Volunteer Firefighters Across New York

If you ask Joe Tasker, he’ll tell you becoming a volunteer firefighter was one of the best decisions he’s ever made.

“Everybody kind of comes together and works as a team. When you’re on a scene like that, everyone comes together and it’s stuff you don’t forget,” said Tasker.

But for nearly 30 years, companies like Doyle 1 in Cheektowaga had seen a steady decline in volunteers.

“When you go to one of their fire halls you’ll see that most of the people in the fire hall are of the grey hair era. So the younger folks with their busy schedules are tough to get a hold of,” said Erie County Emergency Services Deputy Commissioner James Reger.

“It is a problem I know with many of the volunteer companies responding to calls during daylight hours, because many of the volunteers have regular jobs,” said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.

In 2011 the state introduced its RecruitNY campaign to open up firehouses to stress the importance of volunteers.

“Our volunteers answer calls for medical emergencies, flooded basements, for down power line, automobile accidents and of course for fires,” said Firemen’s Association of the State of New York President Ken Pienkowski.

“As a volunteer firefighter, you don’t know necessarily what you’re going to be doing, but you often are saving people’s lives and they never forget it,” said Poloncarz, (D).

From 2011 to 2014, the state saw volunteers increase from 85,000 to 110,000.

While the program stopped the bleeding, departments are still in need of volunteers.

Once again, 26 firehouses across Erie County will open their doors to show potential candidates what it takes to be a firefighter.

“Conduct tours of their firehouses, and fire apparatus, allow visitors to try on turnout gear and provide visitor activities throughout the fire station,” said Pienkowski.

Apart from protecting communities, volunteer fire departments save taxpayers millions every year.

“A volunteer is saving local communities, on average, approximately $100,000 an individual. That’s a tremendous amount of savings,” said Poloncarz.

RecruitNY will take place Saturday and Sunday.