Midstate volunteer fire department looks to ease shortage by hiring paid workers

SWATARA TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WHTM) - Fire companies across the Midstate are in desperate need of volunteers.

The Pandemic-era problem has continued to grow over the past three years, forcing some volunteer departments, like Swatara Township, to aquire paid firefighter positions.

Swatara Township Fire and Rescue has roughly 65 volunteers, but Chief Michael Ibberson said that number needs to grow.

"We're in some different times right now," Ibberson said. "A lot of people have to work multiple jobs, and to be a volunteer, you [have to] sacrifice a lot."

Swatara Township Fire and Rescue is far from the only township dealing with a volunteer shortage. Departments across the country and Commonwealth continue to. That's why some are trying to attract volunteers through a grant from the Federal Government.

"It pays for all the training of a new firefighter, it pays for gear for the new firefighter and also provides tuition assistance [of] up to $10,000," Ibberson said.

"The goal of that is to prolong the volunteer firefighting system as long as we can," Scott Ryno, Contracted Grant Administrator for Capitol Region Council of Governments, said.

According to Ryno, 21 fire companies across the region are taking part in the grant, with the end-goal being to eliminate the need for most, if not all, paid [volunteer] firefighter positions.