When the Community Changes but the Firehouse Doesn’t
What adaptation, community change, and organizational fit may have to do with volunteer staffing struggles
Another Piece of the Puzzle
In my last article, When Volunteer Capacity becomes a Capability Risk, I argued that strain in volunteer fire and EMS should not be treated as just a staffing problem. I said it looked more like a warning sign about local capability, long-term sustainability, and the assumptions emergency managers make about what communities can count on when something goes wrong.
The more I’ve sat with this concern, the more I’ve found myself asking another question. If staffing struggles are signaling something deeper, what exactly are they signaling?
