'We're doing the best we can': Jeannette Fire Department faces staffing shortage
JEANNETTE, Pa. (KDKA) — The causes of two fires in Jeannette remain under investigation.
When the fire bell rang at the Jeannette fire station on Monday afternoon, firefighters and police quickly rolled to the scene and put out a small porch fire at a vacant home along Lavelle Street. But what waited for them a short distance away on Division Street was another matter altogether.
"Water was great," Jeannette Fire Department Captain Josh Rettger said. "We had enough apparatus there in a timely manner."
But one very important thing was not present.
"The biggest challenges were manpower and time of day," Rettger said.
This, however, is nothing new. Over the last decades, the fire department, both volunteer and paid, has seen the number of those willing to brave the flames dwindle.
According to the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute, the number of volunteer firefighters has dramatically dropped from 300,000 in the '70s to 60,000 in the 2000s and 38,000 in 2019. This is not counting paid departments that have cut staff through budget tightening or attrition.
"We're doing the best that we can," Rettger said.
Stacy Shank, whose grandmother's home is gone, says she appreciates the efforts.
"They did wonderfully," Shank said. "I want to thank the first responders who were here. They did what they could."
Rettger says helping or joining a volunteer fire or paid department does not mean you have to go into a blaze. There are social and other types of memberships. They all help make the community safer.