Volunteer fire companies across Pennsylvania have been beating the warning drum for a number of years now. Membership is falling and active members in many departments are getting older, creating staffing and response issues for smaller departments.

There is also financial pressure: increased training and certification requirements for emergency responders, updating equipment and vehicles for departments can and (has) created what must seem like a never-ending fundraising grind for fire companies, as they fight to bring both people and funds into their fire stations.

It must be an exhausting battle to wage. A fire that never goes out, no matter how much time and effort the men and women of the departments pour into the fight.

The situation has become so intractable that municipal officials from across the state called on Gov. Tom Wolf to convene a special legislative session to address the crisis.

According to the Pennsylvania Association of Township Supervisors, the number of fire company volunteers in Pennsylvania has plummeted from 300,000 in the 1970s to less than 50,000 in 2018. The group says it would cost the state $10 billion to provide the same services these volunteer departments provide.

Last year the state took a very positive step toward addressing the crisis, enacting Act 172, which makes it possible for municipalities to offer real estate tax credits of up to 20 percent for volunteers involved with emergency medical services and fire companies.

Since then multiple municipalities in Butler County have taken advantage of the program. Cranberry, Jackson and Lancaster townships have all offered version of the program to firefighters, as has Zelienople borough. Other local governments are reportedly considering the move.

We urge them to follow through and develop their own programs. Yes, offering these tax incentives requires municipalities to effectively open their own pocketbooks and forego local tax revenue. But as the association makes clear in its plea to Wolf, that is a pittance measured against losing the services these volunteers provide every day.

There’s no guarantee that these financial incentives will help departments attract new members in the coming months and years. But it’s a chance worth taking — and a show of appreciation that will surely resonate with the men and women who selflessly give their time and effort every day to help keep residents across the county safe.