Firefighter warns of U.S. fire department staffing shortages risking safety

U.S. fire departments suffer staffing shortages that threaten community and firefighter safety, a career firefighter said.

Jason Cerrano, a firefighter in St. Louis, Missouri, and director for research and development at IDEX Fire and Safety, described the problem in an interview with Fox News Digital. Data from his company shows a huge shift in the fire service.

When Cerrano started in 1999, departments were well staffed, sometimes with no openings for volunteers. A huge influx followed 9/11, he said. Fire departments have long excelled at community outreach through fire prevention programs but never needed to recruit aggressively.

Over the past two decades, volunteers fell steadily from about 900,000 to 700,000, Cerrano said. Career firefighting added only 30,000 to 40,000 jobs in that time, even as call volumes tripled.

Fewer firefighters on scene raise risks during responses, Cerrano said. "The fire ground is random; things happen, whether it's a fire or a car accident or something else – it's an unstable environment, or we wouldn't be there," he said. "Every time … there's something you can’t imagine that throws a wrench in it, so the more people you have who can evaluate those things and see something coming at you from the side, that's the most important thing."

The fire service has improved internally with calmer wake-ups, gear cleaning initiatives, and more focus on cancer prevention and environmental risks, he noted. "The fire service is at risk in so many different ways, and people need to understand that the more people out there, the safer," Cerrano said. He called for technology to help firefighters work steadily and consistently.

Career departments offer steady jobs with good benefits, yet numbers remain low, Cerrano said. Gen Z workers seek more from jobs than past generations. "The fire service, if you think about it culturally, you were lucky to be there," he told Fox News Digital. "The more experienced people treated you that way … You can't just come into the fire services and be a hero day one. [You] have to be treated like rookies."

"Sometimes that feels like you're being kept down," he added. "We just have to remember when these new recruits are coming in, we have to make sure they always feel like they have purpose, or that generation will leave. And frankly, I wouldn't blame them for it."

Fire departments stick to traditions but should adopt emerging technology like the military, Cerrano suggested. "We need to celebrate our tradition and use it in our work habits and our environments around the engine houses," he said. "But I think when it comes to our tools and the way we do things, we have to start moving forward if we're going to bring in those new recruits and retain them."

Recruits do not need straight-A grades, just a willingness to get dirty, wake up at night, and manage emotions, he said. "A lot of people don't want to go out and take risks or be in situations that can sometimes be hard to deal with," Cerrano said. "But that risk versus reward, or that risk versus the emotional toll that it can take, gives you a really big sense of purpose, because you spend your whole life helping people."

Many volunteers handle station tasks without facing fire ground dangers. "You can do a lot in your community without having to go in and take all the risks," he said.