A quick survey of Butler County's state representatives indicates that they know there's a state fire and rescue services crisis, but they aren't sure what to do about it.

For more than a decade, state Rep. Jeff Pyle, R-60th, said he's been hearing about the issues outlined in the recently released state report on EMS workers and volunteer firefighters.

But Pyle contends that the state has done virtually all it can, and that smaller departments are going to have to merge to stay afloat.

“We've tried tax breaks,” Pyle said. “It ain't working. We've done everything the firemen have asked us.”

The new state report formalizes a common refrain among firefighters: There is a shortage of new volunteers. Pyle points to cultural changes as the reason.

“The mentality of the culture just isn't what it was,” he said. “Everybody likes to stay at home and stare into whatever screen has their attention at the moment. No one steps up like they used to.”

Pyle thinks more departments ought to start youth programs, and ones that are just a few miles from each other should seriously consider combining forces.

He doesn't seem to think that having more paid departments is a suitable answer.

“How much do you want your taxes to go up?” he asked.

State Rep. Ted Nesbit, R-8th, said that regionalizing departments can help, but he points to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates as a key problem.

“It doesn't matter if we regionalize if we don't look at reimbursement rates,” Nesbit said.

And he said that state training requirements for volunteer firefighters is a major hindrance for recruitment.

“We're requiring more training and making it harder to provide that training,” Nesbit said. “It's just getting hard to put in those volunteer hours.”

State Rep. Lee James, R-64th, also said that volunteer requirements make it overly difficult to start fighting fires.

“They can't do it without 180 hours of training,” James said. “They're just not interested in sitting in a classroom and doing it. They just want to go do it.”

James sits on the Emergency Preparedness Committee, and said understaffed and underfunded departments are “probably the No. 1 priority of that committee.”

However, they're still waiting for someone to figure out the right path forward, he said.

“I don't believe we see a solution yet,” James said.