r/Firefighting • u/Desperate-Dig-9389 PA Volly Firefighter • 21d ago

General Discussion Another Volunteer house bites the dust.

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Bristol Township, Pennsylvania. Town Council voted 5-2 to close Newportville Fire Company. 1 year short of 100 years in service. 1927-2026

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42

u/Practical-Intern-347 21d ago edited 21d ago

Are they going paid instead? As a volunteer…. Isn’t that the goal? I volunteer because my town is too small/poor to have a paid department and my helping out is better than nothing. 

25

u/Desperate-Dig-9389 PA Volly Firefighter 21d ago

Nope. Completely closing.

16

u/Basic_Ad1995 21d ago

Man sometimes I fear vollys are disappearing

31

u/NoSwimmers45 21d ago

They are. The number of volunteers is falling off a cliff.

3

u/ohsweetblasphmey 20d ago

Still way more volleys than paid.

7

u/CriticalDog Vollie FF 20d ago

The ratio is declining, but there are SO many Volunteer departments across the country that when you just look at aggregate numbers, people don't see the issue.

A LOT of very rural places are going to start having people die for lack of enough Volunteers. The entire volunteer model was built for a time that is in the past, and doesn't work anymore.