Nearly 2,000 Ohioans have inquired about serving as volunteer firefighters since last year’s launch of the Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment Portal.
COLUMBUS, Ohio-(AVC News) — Hometown heroes across Ohio are stepping up to protect their communities in response to a steep decline in the number of volunteers in the state’s fire service.
In August 2025, the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of State Fire Marshal’s launched its Volunteer Firefighter Recruitment Portal to more easily and directly connect Ohioans with their local volunteer fire departments for potential opportunities. In the past year, nearly 2,000 Ohioans have used the portal to inquire about joining their local fire service to serve their hometowns. In 2026 alone, more than 1,400 applications have been received, including over 200 since mid‑July.
As a direct result of this effort, 536 individuals have been in direct communication with fire departments for action on their applications, and 130 Ohioans are in the process of filling volunteer roles at these departments.
The portal, available com.ohio.gov/Volunteer, streamlines the recruitment process and makes it easier than ever for Ohioans who are interested in joining the volunteer fire service to connect with their local department. In a matter of just seconds, Ohioans can enter basic location and contact information into the portal and submit an inquiry that is sent directly to their nearest volunteer fire departments. Once submitted, the fire chiefs of those departments are notified so they can follow up with those interested individuals.
While these statistics show progress is being made, much work remains to help ensure Ohio communities are protected. Approximately 70% of Ohio’s nearly 1,200 fire departments rely on volunteers; however, a significant decline in the volunteer fire service is jeopardizing its future viability. From 2018 to 2021, the number of volunteer firefighters declined by 6.5%, meanwhile emergency calls from 2018 to 2020 rose by 9%.
In Ohio, data from the Ohio Department of Public Safety Division of EMS shows the volunteer firefighter force has experienced an annual decline of approximately 1.3% over the past five years, leading to an overall 6.5% decline. Currently, there are 8,173 individuals in the state who have completed the minimum requirements necessary to serve as a volunteer firefighter. That is down from 8,416 in 2025, 8,607 in 2024 and 8,762 in 2023.
Volunteer firefighter certifications expire after three years, and professional firefighters have the ability to serve as volunteers outside of their full-time status. In other words, the number of Ohioans who serve as volunteer firefighters – and who are not already professional firefighters – is at an all-time low.
It’s a similar story across the country. According to the National Fire Protection Service, volunteer firefighter ranks have shrunk by an average of 12,000 members per year since 2008, falling from approximately 827,000 to 635,000 in 2023. Meanwhile, calls to U.S. fire departments have surged by about 70% during that same period, jumping from roughly 25 million to 42 million. In other words, fewer volunteers are shouldering a rapidly growing workload.
While volunteers are needed in front-line roles such as operating fire apparatus and responding to emergency calls, individuals are also needed to fill other important volunteer roles, such as helping to coordinate community events, leading fundraising activities, and supporting social media engagement.
The development of the portal expanded upon other recent efforts by the Division of State Fire Marshal to address the decline in volunteer firefighters. Following the 2023 Governor’s Volunteer Fire Service Task Force, the Division launched two media campaigns to highlight this dangerous trend and encourage Ohioans to consider becoming volunteer firefighters. During the campaigns, Ohio-based visits to makemeafirefighter.org increased by over 1,000% from the preceding year and users initiated over 2,500 actions to contact a local fire department, such as completing an interest form or making a call.
In addition to the awareness campaigns and development of the portal, the Division of State Fire Marshal continues to support future recruitment efforts by providing training and classes for volunteer firefighters and volunteer departments at no cost to them.
