Two stories on a recent front page of the Butler Eagle perfectly illustrate the troublesome situation facing many rural communities in Butler County.

The first story, “Peers, community honor Mars firefighter,” detailed the burial service for Jim Ellis, a longtime member of the former Mars Volunteer Fire Company and a captain with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire.

The second story, “VFC has uncertain future,” detailed the questions Middlesex Township residents and supervisors have about the future of the Middlesex Township Volunteer Fire Company because there are not enough volunteers stepping up to fill the company’s ranks.

Firefighters such as Ellis die or move away, quit or retire and they are not replaced. Volunteer fire departments from Connoquenessing to Saxonburg to Cranberry Township are posting signs both on their doors and on their websites seeking new members.

This is a concern because according to statistics almost all (96.8%) of the commonwealth’s firefighters are volunteers. There are an estimated 38,000 volunteer firefighters in the state now, and the number continues to dwindle.

And it’s not just a lack of personnel to man the fire truck when a call comes in. The number of emergency medical technicians often attached to a fire department is also declining.

There are many and varied explanations for the decline in firefighter volunteers. Some cite the disinclination of younger adults to join anything — bowling leagues, churches — let alone volunteer fire departments. Others say the increasing requirements for training and certification imposed by the state are becoming too draining on volunteers’ wallets and time.

There doesn’t seem to be any one solution to the problem. Some departments are offering to pay for the training of EMTs. Other municipalities are checking into the possibility of joining with other departments or contracting another department to provide firefighting services.

It might be that a combination of these approaches is needed to shore up the ranks in the local fire departments.

Any and all suggestions should be considered. Anything would be better than a future of alarms ringing unheard in empty fire halls.

— EKF