{"id":88386,"date":"2026-01-16T10:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T10:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/88386\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T10:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T10:00:08","slug":"when-volunteers-cant-keep-up-how-pennsylvania-fire-departments-are-adapting-to-staffing-shortages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/88386\/","title":{"rendered":"When volunteers can\u2019t keep up: How Pennsylvania fire departments are adapting to staffing shortages"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/a8ba8b79-b49b-4ee6-9f16-db614048a228_750x422-5KcUqr-300x169.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-image-691898\" alt=\"\"   loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>VIDEO: Across south-central Pennsylvania, volunteer fire departments are facing unprecedented challenges as fewer people are able to give the time needed to keep them running.<\/p>\n<p>From closures to mergers to the addition of paid staff, communities are adjusting, and the trend is part of a nationwide shift.<\/p>\n<p>In West Manchester Township, the Lincolnway Volunteer Fire Company is adding part-time career firefighters for the first time in its history. Lieutenant Chad Deardorff says the move isn\u2019t about a lack of dedication among volunteers, but about the reality of modern life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople have to make a living, and they have to prioritize their family first, and we understand that,\u201d Deardorff said. \u201cIt\u2019s a fine balance that we have to find, and it\u2019s just not there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The strain on volunteer departments is not unique to Pennsylvania. Across the country, most volunteer fire departments exist in small jurisdictions without the tax base to support career firefighters. <\/p>\n<p>WPMT-TV FOX 43 York<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VIDEO: Across south-central Pennsylvania, volunteer fire departments are facing unprecedented challenges as fewer people are able to give&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8338,28,30,29],"class_list":["post-88386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-mid-atlantic-region","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}