Firefighters across Colorado are facing increasing pressures, as the landscape of recruitment and staffing are changing, especially for volunteer agencies.Many people don't know that the majority of firefighters outside of the m etro areas are volunteers, Lisa Pine with the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control said. So, they dont understand that, you know, the money comes from the spaghetti dinner or grants.The U.S. Fire Administrations Fire Department Census count shows there are 5,893 volunteer firefighters in Colorado. Pine said that this data is voluntarily reported.Based on the 2024 Needs Assessment thats set to be released in April, Pine said the responding fire agencies said they need an additional 1,135 career firefighters and 1,167 volunteer firefighters to meet full staffing. This was only 62% of fire agencies reporting.Sometimes you don't have enough staff to really do all the things that need to be done on the call, and so you're limited in how you approach responding to the emergency, Pine said. The other issue, which is even bigger in my mind, is that you're really going to burn out those folks that are working the job because they don't have the backup. They don't have people to to fill their role. This is mostly in the volunteer departments, although the career departments are also short staffed.Pine said several things have changed impacting recruitment and increasing pressure. She said younger people arent staying in rural communities. These are areas of Colorado that rely the most heavily on volunteer departments.Also because of economic pressures, there are more two income families. That means there isn't always the support of other family members to take care of responsibilities, when the volunteer firefighter is out on a call. That makes volunteering a lot more difficult for more families. The fire service is constantly picking up sort of new things that they do, Pine said. We're expanding what emergencies were called to. So, you know, from structure fire to EMS to hazardous materials. Really the list of things that we respond to is growing. So, there's more of a need in the community. And so that's just putting a little bit more pressure on these volunteer agencies to meet the needs of their community.Concerns about recruitment reached state lawmakers this legislative session. Right now, lawmakers are debating a new bill to improve recruitment and training.HB25-1078 is currently waiting for a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee but a firm timeline hasnt been set yet.I think the more we can train, the more we can get to the high school students and say, hey, here's a career path. Have you ever considered this, I think that helps with the recruitment, so we're hopeful, Pine said. ...read more read less