{"id":182535,"date":"2024-08-16T21:11:21","date_gmt":"2024-08-17T02:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=182535"},"modified":"2024-08-16T21:11:23","modified_gmt":"2024-08-17T02:11:23","slug":"ohio-in-need-of-volunteer-firefighters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2024\/08\/16\/ohio-in-need-of-volunteer-firefighters\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio in need of volunteer firefighters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

COLUMBUS — Governor Mike DeWine joined Ohio Department of Commerce Director Sherry Maxfield and State Fire Marshal Kevin Reardon Friday at the Division of State Fire Marshal\u2019s campus to announce a statewide Public Service Announcement campaign to raise awareness for Ohio’s need for volunteer firefighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany Ohio communities rely on volunteer firefighters to keep them and their families safe every day,\u201d said Governor DeWine. \u201cAs volunteer numbers decrease, Ohioans are increasingly at risk, which is why it so important to spread awareness for Ohio\u2019s need. We hope to encourage everyday Ohioans to become extraordinary heroes by serving their communities as volunteer firefighters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Governor Mike DeWine talks about the need for volunteer firefighters throughout Ohio. Photo submitted<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, Governor DeWine created the Volunteer Fire Service Task Force, a group consisting of volunteer fire departments, municipalities, and state agencies, to study and improve the future sustainability of volunteer fire services in Ohio. The deployment of the PSA campaign is the latest fulfilled recommendation identified in the Task Force’s 31-page report.
 
Starting immediately, two 30-second PSAs will appear on televisions across the state along with ads on various digital platforms, including social media. The PSAs feature current Ohio volunteer firefighters sharing why they choose to serve encouraging Ohioans to consider becoming a volunteer firefighter themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individuals can visit MakeMeAFirefighter.org<\/a> and search for volunteer firefighter opportunities in, or near, their communities. Users can then click on a specific position, read details about the role, and express their interest. Currently, there are nearly 400 open positions across Ohio listed on the website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Approximately 70 percent of fire departments in Ohio are volunteer. In Van Wert County, Convoy, Middle Point, Scott, Willshire and Wren are volunteer fire departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

 While the number of emergency calls is increasing across the state, the number of volunteer firefighters is decreasing. From 2018 to 2021, there was a 6.5 percent decrease in the number of volunteer firefighters; meanwhile, from 2018 to 2020, there was a nine percent increase in calls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nation is experiencing a similar trend. According to the National Volunteer Fire Council, approximately 65 percent of the country\u2019s estimated 1,041,200 firefighters are volunteers, and 64 percent of 29,452 fire departments in the U.S. are all-volunteer. In 2020, the number of volunteer firefighters in the U.S. reached a low while call volume has more than tripled in the last 35 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany Ohioans underestimate or simply aren\u2019t aware of the critical role that volunteer firefighters play in our daily lives,\u201d said Ohio Fire Marshal Kevin Reardon. \u201cThere is no question that volunteers are a key component in our ability to maintain a strong, robust and responsive fire service across the state. These are men and women who, despite working full-time jobs, have made the decision to step up and serve their communities and neighbors, often on what could be considered the worst days of their lives. The trend we\u2019re seeing at this moment in Ohio is unsustainable, which is why now is the time for Ohioans to step up and become the hometown heroes our communities desperately need.\u201d
 
In addition to the new awareness campaign, the Division of State Fire Marshal has made strides toward fulfilling other recommendations from the Task Force, including making training classes at the State Fire Marshal\u2019s Ohio Fire Academy 100% free for volunteer firefighters and volunteer fire departments, increasing fire department grant funding to $7.5 million, and hiring a volunteer service coordinator to support the needs of Ohio\u2019s volunteer fire service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COLUMBUS — Governor Mike DeWine joined Ohio Department of Commerce Director Sherry Maxfield and State Fire Marshal Kevin Reardon Friday at the Division of State Fire Marshal\u2019s campus to announce a statewide Public Service Announcement campaign to raise awareness for Ohio’s need for volunteer firefighters. \u201cMany Ohio communities rely on volunteer firefighters to keep them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-182535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-17 12:53:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182535"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182556,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182535\/revisions\/182556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}