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 sharp decline in recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters by fire departments in southeastern Pennsylvania has resulted in the shortage of volunteers to respond adequately to emergencies. This deterioration has culminated into the delivery of inadequate services to most municipalities. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research was to explore and identify factors that influence recruitment and retention from the perspective of volunteer firefighters in southeastern Pennsylvania who agreed to participate. Additionally, a comprehensive review of scholarly journals as well as volunteer management literature was examined during the conduct of this study. Furthermore, data collection activities was carried out through a one-on-one, face-to-face interview methodology with 25 active volunteer firefighters in the region to answer the interview questions which helped the researcher adequately answer the primary and secondary research questions using Hertzberg's two-factor theory. A major findings from the study indicated that the scarcity of volunteer firefighters to respond to community emergencies was due in large part to the lack of motivational incentives to boost recruitment and retention. It was, therefore, the recommendation that chiefs and policy makers of volunteer fire departments in southeastern Pennsylvania make every effort to provide the motivational needs of potential as well as experienced volunteer firefighters to entice them to enlist and remain with fire departments.

Recommendations of this research project in summary are, to recruit reliable personnel, train and encourage them to learn, reward them, and find incentives that are affordable and within the reach of every volunteer. The volunteer tradition must survive.

"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.