Against the backdrop of declining volunteer firefighters throughout the state, Pennsylvania's auditor general on Thursday questioned why state funds for volunteer fire departments has “fluctuated wildly” over the years.

Each year, state aid for Volunteer Fire Relief Associations is collected from a 2 percent tax on fire insurance policies sold in Pennsylvania by out-of-state companies and is sent to volunteer fire departments to fund buying equipment, training, insurance and death benefits.

Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale held a news conference in Mechanicsburg to urge the state's Department of Revenue, which collects those taxes, to look at why those funds have decreased recently.

DePasquale suggested that the state loosen its laws on how fire departments can use the funds. And he also lamented the decline in people willing to volunteer. Last year, state aid to volunteer firefighters totaled nearly $60 million, down from $72.5 million in 2013, according to the auditor's office. But fire chiefs in Butler County agree that the more pressing issue is getting volunteers.

In September, DePasquale held a similar event.

“It's no secret that emergency services in (Pennsylvania) have been in the crapper for a while now,” said Bruin Fire Chief Eric Feicht. “Everywhere in the county, especially north, you see the population dwindling. There's nothing to keep people in these areas. Volunteer firefighters are between 45 to 55 years old, there's not an overabundance of young people in the service.”

In 2019, county municipalities received more than $1.1 million of the $60 million released statewide by DePasquale's office. In 2018, the county received $1 million of $55 million statewide.

Cranberry Township received the highest amount in the county last year at $232,808, followed by the Adams Area Fire District at nearly $112,000. Butler Township Volunteer Fire District came in third at $104,404. Bruin borough received $2,046.50.

Currently, Feicht's department, which covers Bruin and Parker Township, has around 32 people who are active on the roster.

“I'd take 100 (volunteers) if I could get them. We'll never get much more than we have now,” Feicht said.

Equipment also poses a challenge, Feicht said.

“By the time you buy helmets, boots, all that stuff for full gear, you're closer to $10 grand on a person's back,” Feicht said. The auditor's office confirmed those costs.

Feicht also noted that for rural areas such as Bruin and Parker Township, emergency medical services also lack personnel. In this absence, firefighters have had to wear more than one hat.

“EMS is at a crisis level across the board,” Feicht said. “We're now a public service entity. We're no longer just a fire department. We provide an active EMS role up here.”

And Feicht agreed with DePasquale's assessment that the fundraising fire departments must do also gets in the way.

“The firefighters will tell you nobody signs up to be a volunteer firefighter because they find fundraising fun. They do these things in addition to having a job, families. They signed up to fight fires not to sell chicken dinners,” DePasquale said. “The constant need to do fundraisers is what has partially led to a drop in volunteers.”

Nathan Wulff, assistant fire chief of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Company, observed a similar manpower problem in his department.

Last year, Wulff said there were 30 active members. But only about 15 show up consistently. Ideally, he'd like 50.

“In the 1970s, we had a waiting list for volunteers in Unionville. Now it's the opposite situation,” Wulff said. “We're not hurting financially, but we are struggling to try and find people. It's getting to the point now that our department and others are starting to explore financial incentives to attract more people.”

Wulff thinks DePasquale's push to loosen the laws around state funds could help. He said that if they could use those funds to help pay firefighters, it would stem the loss.

“The auditor general talking about freeing up relief money, I'm all for that,” Wulff said.

DePasquale on Thursday said Pennsylvania has the most volunteer fire departments in the country, and that “the services they provide save local taxpayers billions of dollars.” He worried that the fluctuations in funds might mean people are “being short changed.”

Wulff said that if fire departments can't come up with a way to retain members, they might have to start considering paid firefighters.

“We're heading toward a crossroads where departments will have to decide how to provide effective services going forward,” Wulff said. “Communities going that route will have to see major tax increases. And that's financially not possible for a large part of the county. There's absolutely no way a lot of these places can pay for a paid staffing.”