The number of active volunteer firefighters has been steadily dropping in the state of Connecticut for several years. At the same time, the number of public service calls for fire departments has been on the rise. This problem impacts fire protection and municipalities that rely on volunteer fire departments. The purpose of this narrative study was to explore why volunteer firefighter numbers have been declining, the extent to which recruitment and retention programs are used in volunteer fire departments, and how these programs contribute to a fire department's ability to recruit members. Perry's public service motivation model provided the theoretical framework for the study. Research questions focused on improving recruitment and retention programs. Data were collected from interviews with 5 current chief officers and 5 former firefighters in Connecticut and from organizational documents in local fire departments. Open, axial, and selective coding were used to identify 5 themes: lack of awareness of state policy on recruitment and retention, lack of recruitment, public service motivation, retention, and time. A key theme emerging from this study were that participating fire departments have limited effective recruitment and retention programs. The positive social change implications stemming from this study include recommendations to fire department leadership to consider a unified recruitment and retention strategy. This determination provides a foundation for volunteer fire departments to make informed decisions on how to increase recruitment and retention in their respective communities.

The results of the literature review and survey, which also are the recommendations, suggest that the department should consider incorporating the following into its recruitment and retention program: improve volunteer applicant screening to determine their motivation for joining the department, evaluate the current leadership of both career and volunteer officers, evaluate current training programs, and implement a formal recruitment and retention program that includes various incentives for our volunteers.

"The purpose of this research project was to determine the gaps, if any, between existing recruitment and retention practices of volunteer fire departments in the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George and best practices as assessed through a review of the relevant research literature. I was particularly interested in determining the motivations of people to join and stay in volunteer fire fighting, and in whether there were age differences in these motivations. I first conducted a review of the relevant research literature to locate previous studies conducted on this topic. The results of these studies helped to inform the interview methodology used in this research. I then interviewed fire chiefs from volunteer departments in the Fraser-Fort George Regional District, British Columbia, to determine what practices they are presently using to recruit and retain their firefighters, and whether they are using different procedures to recruit from younger and older age groups. Based on the background review of research literature and interviews conducted in this project, I make recommendations for the improvement of recruitment and retention strategies for volunteer fire departments in the RDFFG."--Leaf iii.

Volunteer fire departments across the country have been feeling the effects of declining membership. Less and less people are joining volunteer fire departments and many experienced members are leaving. This trend is also being experienced by a number of volunteer fire departments located in Erie County, New York, based on a recent survey conducted by the Erie County Volunteer Firemen's Association. The purpose of this paper was to determine what could be done to recruit new volunteers and what could be done to retain current volunteers. An action research method was selected in order to gather sufficient information regarding the volunteer firefighter recruitment and retention programs from across the country. These programs were analyzed to decide which, if any, would be applicable in Erie County. In researching numerous articles and reports, it became apparent that the problem of diminishing volunteers was widespread. A number of fire departments have realized that in order to remain in existence, they must aggressively recruit new members and become more aware of members' needs to retain those members. A number of creative recruitment and retention programs in use across the country were evaluated. From those programs, a number were selected to be implemented in the Erie County Fire Service, some with only minor modifications. Essentially, Erie County's recruitment and retention programs must become very aggressive in order to provide quality fire protection and emergency medical services to the county residents, or face the consequences of having to drastically increase taxes to subsidize a career fire department.

Reviews the Los Angeles Fire Department’s hiring practices as of June 2014 and outlines a recommended new firefighter hiring process that is intended to increase efficiency of the hiring process, bolster the evidence supporting the validity of it, and make it more transparent and inclusive.