By Courtney McCann
Press of Atlantic City
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Robert Valasek became a volunteer firefighter when he was 17. His father was a volunteer firefighter before him.
Now Valasek, a 22-year veteran firefighter and chief of the Mays Landing Volunteer Fire Department, is seeing more fathers and fewer sons showing up on fire scenes.
“I’m hearing about problems all over,” Valasek said. “Membership in general is just not there.”
Without a steady stream of volunteers, local fire companies are aging rapidly. Surveys by the United States Fire Administration show that about 40 percent of volunteer firefighters are older than 50. Firefighters younger than 30 account for only 25 percent of the nation’s total number of firefighters — career and volunteer.
Full Story: Area fire companies showing their age