Middlesex Township Volunteer Fire Company is seeking new members to fend off an ongoing struggle with staffing, Chief Walt Hamilton said.

Recent turnover in the leadership of the fire company, combined with staff shortages that have affected departments across the region, have led Hamilton and the fire company to reach out to the community and create new ways prospective members can help out.

“We are no different than any other fire company out there right now. Every other fire company right now is hurting for members as much as we are,” Hamilton said. “I’ve been in this 37 years, and I remember back 20 years ago, there used to be waiting lines to get in fire companies. Now, you’re taking whatever you can get, because everybody’s lifestyles have changed.”

The department has eight or nine active firefighters and around 40 members who fill support roles, Hamilton said. Over the past year, the department has seen at least six firefighters and members leave.

“Right now, it’s a sticky situation for everybody, and until somebody can make up a recipe of how to recruit and retain, we’re back in the game of getting members,” Hamilton said.

In May, Rich Bitzer, president of the fire company, stepped down.

“I just decided to move on. There was some stuff over there that just wasn’t sitting right with me, so I moved on,” Bitzer said in a phone call. He did not provide further comment.

MTVFC’s new president, Dave Van Atta, who officially was nominated at the beginning of June, says he hopes to keep moving forward.

“People have differences of agreements, different ideals and ways of seeing things. It’s a membership-run organization — it’s not a one-person company,” Van Atta said. “What the majority wants, that’s what the majority gets.”

Van Atta has been a member of the fire company since 1988, and served as its chief for 11 years. In his role as president, he will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the company, while Hamilton is in charge of fire calls, trucks and responses as chief.

“I’m trying to see where things are at and where they’re not at, and trying to move forward,” Van Atta said. “We are a volunteer organization, and we need the community to come out and help support us people-wise.”

Hamilton became chief of the fire department in November 2021 and since starting as chief, he has made training a priority. While some of the members who have left disagreed with the way the company operates, he said, others have left because they moved, or because of other situations in their lives changing.

“We’ve had a couple of ex-members come back who have been with us in the past,” Hamilton said. “Anytime there is a leadership change, there are people who are not going to agree with some of the decisions.”

Adams Area Fire District also has been added to all of Middlesex’s calls, Hamilton said.

“That way there are two or three of us that are coming to any call,” he said.

The fire company now offers a “Fire Police” role, which focuses on traffic control, Hamilton explained.

“The fire department pays for all their training, and they’re state certified. Their main concern is traffic control, directing traffic and shutting roads down,” Hamilton said. “They’d also be used for crowd control and scene containment, if there’s a large area we have to contain. Basically, their biggest job is to make sure traffic flows safely and easily for the citizens of Middlesex and anybody else who comes through our township.”

The fire police role in other townships often is filled by older members who no longer are active firefighters, he said.

“Other fire companies have it, and some of them are very successful with membership through that,” Hamilton said. “It’s just another way for us to add members and to keep moving on.”

The volunteer nature of the Middlesex fire company adds its own unique challenges.

“Our township has grown so much, and I think some of these people who are coming in don’t realize we are volunteers, because a lot of people we talk to think we are paid, and that’s not true,” he said.

He emphasized that there are many different ways to get involved with the company that don’t necessarily involve active firefighting.

“When we ask you to join the fire company, we’re not asking you to run into a burning building,” he said. “We need people to run wrecks, and do traffic control, and run pumps. We need people to fight the fire from inside and outside, and bring refreshments to the firefighters. There’s a whole list of things that people could do.”