Bucks County Fire Chiefs Mark Recruitment Milestone

One year ago this month, the Bucks County Fire Chiefs & Firefighters Association retooled its volunteer recruitment campaign, renewing ongoing efforts to attract new firefighters to the county’s 67 volunteer departments and help them combat the nationwide volunteer firefighter shortage.

So far, 371 people have inquired about volunteering through the website that anchors the campaign strategy, Bucksfire.org.

“Our efforts are working even better than we’d hoped,” said Recruitment and Retention Committee Co-Chair Jerry Barton.

Because some volunteers leave the area for retirement, a new job or college, or have a change in their family situation requiring them to leave firefighting, the need for new recruits is never-ending, said Barton’s co-chair, Rob Kay. But Kay and Barton say Bucks County’s volunteer departments – and county residents – are in a much better, safer position thanks to the comprehensive outreach program designed by the Association and its public relations firm, Communication Solutions Group, Inc., of Jenkintown and implemented by the committee and many current volunteers.

Here’s a summary of that work:

·BucksFire.org serves as home base for our efforts. All other recruitment materials send potential recruits to the website, where they can learn more and fill out an electronic form that results in contact from the fire department that serves their community.

· Publications and broadcast media outlets all over Bucks County ran stories about the launch of the campaign and the critical need for volunteers. They continue to give excellent coverage to the need for volunteers, often by highlighting stories about current firefighters.

· A dynamic commercial featuring video of our firefighters in action has aired during major sporting events and other cable programs. See it here, or look for it on ESPN during major sporting events, as well as on A&E, Animal Planet, FX, The History Channel, and other Comcast cable channels.

· Recruitment posters featuring our firefighters hang in shops, restaurants and other public places around the county.

· Social media - Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – are used to further promote our need for volunteers and our organization’s and individual fire companies’ accomplishments, events, and other news.

· Exhibits at high-attendance Bucks County events, including Delaware Valley College A-Day and the Middletown Grange Fair, give prospective volunteers a chance to talk with firefighters. This year, the Association is proud to sponsor the Mercer Museum’s “To Save Our Fellow Citizens” exhibit on the history of volunteer firefighting in Bucks County, which runs from April 25 to Sept. 7 at the Doylestown museum. Volunteers will be on sight for two musters – displays of firefighting apparatus.

“Our volunteers live and breathe firefighting, but it’s important to remember that other community members may not know we need their help, or about the many ways they can help at their local fire department, even if they don’t want to be the one putting fires out,” said Kay. “We’ve discovered that many residents do not realize their fire protection is provided by volunteers.”

“People can’t help out if we don’t show them how,” Barton agreed. “Education and outreach has made a huge difference.”

For more information, please see BucksFire.org.