06/18/2026
Volunteer vs. Career: The Real Reason We’re Losing Firefighters
A recent article came out about the declining numbers in the American volunteer fire service.
Even my hometown news agency shared it. This isn’t a new conversation. Many of us have been talking about it for years because it’s become a real problem, especially in rural communities.
In areas like where I grew up, some departments have dwindled to fewer than ten active members. It’s hard to keep any organization moving forward when you don’t have the people.
Now here’s where I’m probably going to p**s some people off.
I’ve heard a million explanations about why staffing is declining in both volunteer and career fire departments. Some of them are valid. But after 17 years in the fire service, here’s what I’ve come to believe.
I started the fire academy at 17 years old and became a volunteer firefighter at 18. I was certified as a firefighter EMT in Texas and immediately began testing for career departments.
Every interview seemed to end the same way:
“You need experience to get hired.”
My question was simple:
How do you get experience if nobody will hire you?
The answer for me, and for many others, was volunteering.
I joined a rural volunteer department in my hometown. We had a career city department and over a dozen volunteer county departments. Through mutual aid agreements, the city would often respond to structure fires in the county.
It didn’t take long to notice something.
Some career firefighters looked down on volunteers. They would arrive on scene, outside of their district, and immediately try to take over.
Even some of the younger career guys I had gone through the academy with acted like getting a paycheck somehow made them superior.
As volunteers, we took that personally.
We worked hard. We trained hard. We took pride in getting to a fire, putting it out, and canceling the city units before they arrived.
At 18 years old, I witnessed more than one heated exchange between chiefs over jurisdiction, authority, and respect.
Fast forward 17 years.
I’ve worked for multiple departments. I’ve held the ranks from rookie firefighter to ride up Battalion Chief. I’ve traveled the country teaching and training alongside some of the best firefighters I’ve ever met.
And I’ve come to one major conclusion:
The problem isn’t volunteer firefighters.
The problem isn’t career firefighters.
The problem is the extremes.
On one side, you have career firefighters who think a paycheck automatically makes them better than everyone else.
On the other side, you have volunteer firefighters who abuse authority, refuse training, and operate under a “been there, done that” mentality despite not having done much at all.
The real fire service lives somewhere in the middle.
Most volunteers joining today are either young firefighters trying to build experience for a future career or older members looking to serve their communities and be part of something meaningful.
What drives them away?
Low standards.
Endless PowerPoints.
Petty politics.
Good-old-boy systems.
Money games.
Title chasing.
I’ve seen volunteer departments completely consumed by people who care more about rank than performance.
More about control than service.
When new members walk into that environment, they leave. Once that reputation spreads through a small town, recruitment dries up.
Now let’s talk about the career side.
The Third Alarm Cowboys platform is made up entirely of career firefighters from the Houston area. I’m actually one of the junior guys in our cadre. Some of our instructors have over 35 years on the job.
Here’s the reality: We eat our own.
Spend five minutes reading the comments section on any firefighter social media page and you’ll understand exactly what I mean.
No matter who you are…
No matter how many years you’ve been on.
No matter how many fires you’ve fought.

Somebody is ready to tell you you’re wrong.
The same arrogance I witnessed as an 18 year old volunteer is still alive today.
The only difference is now it’s aimed at everybody.
Some firefighters act like because they get paid to do the job, nobody else can teach them anything.
Hell, there are career firefighters who can’t even agree that this job is dangerous.
Then we wonder why recruiting is struggling.
Why would strong, self-driven people want to join an organization where that’s the attitude waiting for them?
So how do we fix it?
First, we recognize who we actually want in this profession.
When I travel around the country teaching conferences, sometimes the room is 50/50 volunteer and career. Sometimes it’s 75% volunteer.
You know what I consistently find?
The people showing up are the people who care.
The volunteers I meet are balancing jobs, families, budgets, and everyday life while still trying to serve their communities.
The career firefighters I respect are the ones who simply fell in love with the job so much they wanted to do it full-time.
Not for the clout.
Not for the title.
Not for social media.
Just because they wanted to be better firefighters.
That’s my story.
That’s the story of many of my friends.
That’s where the real middle ground exists.
The firefighters who truly give a damn.
Some get paid.
Some don’t.
The majority of this profession probably 80% lives in that middle ground.
The problem is we’ve allowed the loudest 20% to define all of us.
The fix is simple.
Call out the extremes.
If you’re in a career department and someone constantly looks down on others, call them out.
If you’re in a volunteer department and people refuse training, avoid accountability, and only show up for free food and a T-shirt, call them out.
Those are the people driving good recruits away.
Those are the people poisoning the culture.
The current recruitment numbers prove it.
The future of the fire service doesn’t belong to career firefighters.
It doesn’t belong to volunteer firefighters.
It belongs to firefighters who still give a damn.
Thirdalarmcowboys.com
