Amid a dire need for volunteer firefighters, state senators advanced a bill that could generate interest from youths.

Senate Bill 331 would establish the Secondary Education Fire Training Pilot Program.

The program would allow community colleges and other higher education institutions to partner with school districts and technical schools to train students as young as 16 years old in areas of firefighter and emergency service training. The students would also earn credits toward graduation.

The bill would establish grant funding avenues for participating colleges and universities.

Butler County Community College offers fire and hazmat training through its Public Safety Program.

The program is available to local volunteers and paid fire or EMS organizations and agencies.

The Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School offers the Protective Services Program.

Both programs help fire and EMS volunteers train in the necessary skills toward earning proper certifications.

Middlesex Township volunteer firefighter Riley Ferguson completed the program at the technical school and has since graduated from junior firefighter to firefighter.

“It was the best experience in terms of my high school education,” said Ferguson, a 2020 Mars High School graduate.

Ferguson said his time as a junior firefighter was important to his development as a professional and a person.

“(It) has not only helped me become a better firefighter, but also taught me many life skills,” he said.

Through the technical school, Ferguson earned six credits toward his graduation requirements, all labeled as electives.

He said for schools that don't have the benefit of technical schools, the Senate bill could give them the incentive to pursue training.

“Some kids may not find interest in electives that a school has to offer,” he said. “Them doing some hands-on training and spending time in a firehouse, I definitely think that would motivate them.”

Middlesex Fire Chief Mike Huber said he is pleased to see young people like Ferguson fully continue through the junior firefighter system and become full-fledged members of his department.

He said young people are the hardest demographic to try to recruit and train.

“Right now, it's kind of hard to get them,” he said. “They think they can be a firefighter and jump right into it, but they can't.”

Chief Scott Garing, head of fire and emergency services for Cranberry Township, said keeping younger volunteers engaged over a number of years can be difficult because it's a time when their lives are actively changing.

“People start getting busy; things start happening in their lives. They start their career tracks,” Garing said.

Huber said programs that offer training to children interested in becoming firefighters not only stress the importance of training throughout their time in emergency services, but also can catch their interest early.

Huber said he has struggled at times to recruit volunteers, but right now, his department is well enough staffed.

“They come and they go. I've been here 24 years, and I've probably seen more come and go than we have active members right now,” he said.

Since the release of the Senate Resolution 6 final report in 2018, legislators have been aware of the issues facing many fire departments across the state. The report listed major concerns for emergency services, including poor numbers in recruiting and retention.

That report cited figures from the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute, which noted that 96 percent of the state's firefighters are volunteers, and that the number of volunteer firefighters has dropped from 300,000 during the 1970s to less than 40,000 presently.

Garing said the bill is a step in the right direction and an acknowledgment of the plight.

“It's fantastic,” he said. “It'll surely help, but I don't think it'll completely solve the problem.”

Ferguson said it could help others achieve the same dream he had as a junior firefighter.

“I've looked forward to it ever since I started,” he said. “Now, I really believe that the help I was already offering — that I can multiply that so much.”