Volunteer Firefighters Open House This Weekend

I know one of the things that my Dad is most proud of is being a volunteer firefighter and I'm proud of him for doing it. However, the number of volunteer firefighters is declining but they hope they can change that beginning this weekend.

It's "RecruitNY" and Volunteer Firefighters will have an Open House this weekend and they are looking for your help. 31 volunteer fire companies in the Broome County, Tioga, and Chenango area are looking for people like you. These Fire Companies are all faced with a great need to recruit more volunteer firefighters.

Only the City of Binghamton and Villages of Endicott and Johnson City have career fire departments and residents outside of these areas depend on volunteer fire companies to provide fire protection.

There is good and bad news. The bad news is the number of volunteers has dropped by 12% since the '80s. Here's the good news, New York State has added more than 20,000 volunteer firefighters since RecruitNY began.

So here's a question to you, "Is there a fire in you?" 610 fire departments in New York including 16 in Broome County will have tours of their firehouses and your chance to see their equipment.

One of the places is just down the street from me at the Chenango Bridge Fire Department. Their Open House is Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you use GPS, it's 13 Kattelville Road, Binghamton and they would love to see you.

It's a great way to see what goes on behind the scenes. To see the complete list of fire departments that are participating this weekend, go here.  Be one of them...Volunteer.

Is there a fire in you?  What's your answer?

[RecruitNY]