Recruitment Pressure Widens

Volunteer fire departments in New York and county officials in Ohio are trying to fill public-safety rosters with two different tools: open-house recruiting and tuition aid. (dailygazette.com) (firerescue1.com) In New York, the Firefighters Association of the State of New York said its 17th annual RecruitNY campaign will run April 18-19, 2026, with hundreds of volunteer departments opening their stations for tours, demonstrations and information sessions. (wnypapers.com) (fireinyou.org) The Daily Gazette reported Capital Region departments including Malta Ridge are using that weekend to bring residents inside the station and explain what volunteering looks like before asking them to join. (dailygazette.com) In Ohio, Cuyahoga County is giving College Now Greater Cleveland $25,000 for a scholarship program expected to fund about 10 awards of up to $2,500 each for high school students pursuing police, fire and emergency medical services training. (firerescue1.com) (cleveland.com) County officials said the Ohio awards target low-income students who qualify for federal Pell Grants, and applicants must meet academic-test thresholds and submit a 500-word essay on their chosen field. (firerescue1.com) The pressure behind both efforts is the same: fewer people are signing up for jobs and volunteer roles that require long training hours, irregular schedules and a willingness to respond when other people are off the clock. (wnypapers.com) (firerescue1.com) New York leans especially hard on volunteers. The International Association of Fire Chiefs, cited by WAER, said about 90% of the state’s firefighters and emergency services workers are volunteer staffed. (waer.org) State and local officials have added incentives beyond recruitment weekends. New York law lets municipalities opt into a property-tax exemption of up to 10% for volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance workers, and FASNY says a 2024 survey found 49% of New Yorkers expressed interest in serving. (tax.ny.gov) (fasny.com) (wnypapers.com) Cuyahoga County’s scholarship plan is the third phase of a career-development effort that began in 2024, after a centralized jobs website and a 2025 exploration event at Polaris Educational Campus that drew more than 100 students and 29 public-safety and justice agencies. (firerescue1.com) New York’s volunteer fire service also carries a large fiscal load. FASNY says volunteers save taxpayers $3.8 billion a year in salaries and benefits alone, which helps explain why departments are now treating recruitment as a year-round operating need, not a spring tradition. (fasny.com)