If you grew up in New Jersey, you probably know someone who volunteered at the local firehouse. Maybe it was your dad, your uncle, or that guy down the street who always seemed to show up at the Fourth of July parade in full gear. Volunteer firefighting has been part of the fabric of NJ communities for generations – and right now, that tradition is in serious trouble.
New Jersey is facing a quiet crisis: the ranks of volunteer firefighters are shrinking fast, and Trenton is scrambling to figure out how to fix it.
The Numbers Are Alarming
Nationally, the number of volunteer firefighters has dropped from nearly 900,000 in 1984 to under 677,000 in 2020 — even as the U.S. population has grown significantly.
New Jersey is no exception to that trend.
A state-commissioned task force put it bluntly: if municipalities can’t find enough volunteers, they’ll have no choice but to hire paid firefighters — and pass that cost straight to taxpayers. “If you can’t get the volunteers, you’re going to have to provide the service. That’s really what it comes down to,” said Joseph Hankins, a volunteer firefighter in Manchester Township for over 45 years and vice chairman of the task force.
Making things harder: the training required to become a certified firefighter in NJ now tops 200 hours, and the job keeps getting more complicated. Electric vehicle fires, hazardous materials incidents, and an ever-increasing call volume have all added to the burden.
One veteran noted that his department went from around 100-150 calls a year in the 1970s to over 360 calls in a recent year. More demands, fewer people willing to sign up. You can see the problem.
So What Are Lawmakers Doing About It?
A few bills working their way through the NJ Legislature are taking an interesting approach: start recruiting at the high school level.
Senate Bill S1343, sponsored by Senators Joseph Pennacchio and Anthony Bucco, would let students between 16 and 18 years old earn high school graduation credits – specifically in health, safety, and physical education – by completing a county fire academy course.
The catch? The bill states they would also have to pass an exam to become a junior firefighter and commit to two years of volunteering with the fire department in their own town.
Instead of running laps for gym credit, a Jersey kid could be learning how to handle a hose, read smoke, and potentially save a neighbor’s life. That’s not a bad trade.
Why This Makes Sense for New Jersey
New Jersey is unique. We’re one of the most densely populated states in the country, but we’re also a patchwork of small towns, each with their own identity — and their own firehouse. Many of those firehouses have been staffed by volunteers for over a century. Guys and women who show up after their day jobs, on weekends, on holidays, because that’s what you do for your community.
That culture doesn’t sustain itself automatically. It has to be passed on. And increasingly, it isn’t.
Getting teenagers into fire academies early isn’t just about filling roster spots. It’s about reconnecting young people in New Jersey to the idea that their community needs them — and that there’s something genuinely meaningful in answering that call.
Where Things Stand
None of these bills have been signed into law yet. S1343 is pre-filed for the 2026–2027 legislative session and still going through the process. S2632 and its Assembly companion are also still in the pipeline. So for now, this is a “watch this space” situation.
But the direction is clear. New Jersey lawmakers are waking up to the fact that the volunteer fire service can’t survive on nostalgia alone. It needs a pipeline — and that pipeline might as well start in high school.
If these bills pass, your teenager could graduate with gym credits, a junior firefighter certification, and the kind of real-world experience that no classroom can replicate. Not a bad deal for the kid who said PE was boring.
