Editorial: What is the future of volunteer fire departments?

Fire departments aren’t an optional public service.

Some things we enjoy having, such as a museum or library, make lives better or help people access important services. Other things augment our communities and improve property values, such as swimming pools or baseball fields.

But fire departments are something we can’t do without. Firefighters show up at car crashes. They respond to natural disasters — not to mention the unnatural kind. And, yes, they are the difference between life and death at fires.

All of these are unfortunate facts of life, despite smoke detectors, sprinkler systems and air bags. Fires and accidents and terrible things will always happen, and fire departments are what stand between a bad day and a much worse one.

Fire department access and response times can affect a homeowner’s insurance rates. They can be the difference between one house burning down and an entire block. They impact the businesses that choose to open in an area, the events that can occur and the people who choose to live there.

But it can be hard to guarantee that access when Pennsylvania largely relies on a patchwork of volunteer fire companies rather than providing it like snow plowing and other services that affect an entire community.

Hempfield is facing that balance with the 11 volunteer-driven stations that serve the Westmore­land County municipality. Just because people aren’t getting paid doesn’t mean the work isn’t a full-time job — especially administrative aspects. The township would like some of the departments to follow the example of the North Hempfield and Midway-St. Clair stations that have become nonchartered. That means they function under the umbrella of the township.

There are good reasons to do so. Like regionalizing police departments, opting to become nonchartered can streamline services and allow the volunteers to focus on volunteering. It also can allow the township to make sure it has the coverage it needs to keep the community safe.

But stations like Hempfield No. 2, which backed away from becoming nonchartered in 2022, have legitimate concerns. The nature of a volunteer company can make the agency the kind of place where people feel deeply personal ownership. It’s a place where people can literally shed blood for their neighbors and are tasked with raising the money to do so.

Municipalities that try to make this work need to find a way not only to consume the volunteer departments but also recognize them as the important partners they have always been. And the volunteers have to learn to accept a helping hand instead of just extending one.