PERRYSBURG, Ohio — Ohio's Task Force on Volunteer Fire Service is trying to find long-term solutions to problems that volunteer fire departments have been plagued with for years: recruitment, retention, equipment and finances.
The task force, created by Gov. Mike DeWine in April 2021, is traveling to all four corners of Ohio to gather input. They held a meeting Wednesday afternoon at Perrysburg's Penta Career Center.
State Fire Marshal Kevin Reardon said more than 11 million people in Ohio rely on emergency services. Every single one of those calls needs to be answered, but departments are spread thin and stressed.
Reardon and others in the Perrysburg crowd emphasized the need for departments to grow while also keeping firefighters around.
Reardon said the average age of Ohio firefighters is 52 to 53 years old, but many are having to stay beyond when they want to retire due to low recruitment.
"They've done 25 or 30 years with their department but a lot of them are staying around because there's not enough young people coming out, there's not new blood coming into those stations to keep them energized and keep them going," he said. "That's a big concern because in general people just aren't volunteering the same way that they used to in decades past."
A new deputy chief state fire marshal was also announced at the meeting. Wauseon Fire Chief Rick Sluder will be stepping into the role.
"I've spent 32 years at Wauseon and it's just a change of pace," he said.
He said his heart is still in Wauseon, but he's excited to help the state.
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