The Firefighter Staffing Shortage: How Bad Is It in 2026?

I’m going to be straight with you: the fire service is running short on firefighters, and it’s not a rumor or a complaint from union reps. The numbers are real.

If you’re in the process of becoming a firefighter, this is actually something you need to understand before you walk into your oral board. And if you’re already in the service, you’ve probably felt it firsthand.

How Bad Is the Firefighter Staffing Shortage Right Now?

The numbers are worse than most people outside the fire service realize:

• The U.S. Forest Service had more than 5,000 vacant firefighting positions as of mid 2025: a vacancy rate above 26% during peak wildfire season
• New York State has seen its volunteer rolls fall from roughly 120,000 to under 80,000 over the past two decades
• The Department of Defense has operated below minimum civilian firefighter staffing levels since 2019
• Nationally, volunteer participation has hit its lowest rate in 40 years
• The NFPA documented a historic low of approximately 676,900 volunteer firefighters nationally in 2020, and the trend hasn’t reversed

In Monroe, Louisiana, the fire department is down 25 firefighters and increased its presence at career fairs, reaching out to applicants one on one. That’s not a staffing blip; that’s a department operating in a hole.

Why Is There a Firefighter Shortage?

There’s no single answer to this. It’s a pile on of problems that have been building for decades.

Volunteers Are Stretched Too Thin

The volunteer model was built for a different era. People today are working two jobs, living farther from their home district, and dealing with training requirements that can run into the hundreds of hours. New York State Sen. Steve Rhoads put it plainly: the residents who would have volunteered a generation ago simply don’t have the time anymore.

Pay in Career Departments Hasn’t Kept Up

Before the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law, most federal wildland firefighters earned less than $15 an hour, which was less than what many retail jobs were paying. It took a $600 million infusion and years of congressional battles before the pay increases were made permanent in a March 2025 continuing resolution. That lag cost the service experienced firefighters who moved on to better paying work.

Burnout Is Real, and It’s Accelerating Attrition

Experienced firefighters are leaving faster than departments can replace them. Running 80% EMS calls, working mandatory overtime to cover vacancies, and absorbing the cumulative psychological toll of the job all catch up with people. When a 15 year veteran leaves, they take institutional knowledge that takes years to replace.

What Does the Shortage Actually Mean on the Fireground?

This is where it gets serious. Fire Lt. Bryan Mathiau of Manchester, Connecticut summed it up well while analyzing fire footage: “If you’re only showing up to a scene with a heavy volume of fire and three individuals, that doesn’t really give you the upper edge to go ahead and perform an interior attack.”

A four person crew can make an aggressive interior attack. A three person crew often can’t. They pull back. They go defensive. They wait for mutual aid. In a working residential fire, the difference between those two scenarios can be the difference between a saved life and a body recovery.

What’s Being Done About It?

Departments are trying. Some of what’s working:

• Nominal pay for volunteers: Legislation is moving in New York and other states to authorize small stipends when volunteers are required to be on duty
• Pooled responses: Smaller departments are running calls together, sharing manpower across jurisdictions to cover what no single department can staff alone
• Permanent pay fixes: The March 2025 continuing resolution locked in wildland firefighter pay raises, which should help with federal recruitment and retention going forward
• Digital recruitment: Some departments are reporting up to 20% improvements in applications after targeted social media campaigns

What This Means If You’re Pursuing a Firefighting Career

Here’s the honest truth: the staffing shortage is bad news for the service, but it’s genuinely good news for qualified candidates. Departments that were highly selective are now actively recruiting. The oral board that might have had 200 applicants five years ago might have 60 today.

That doesn’t mean you can walk in unprepared. It means your qualifications, your fitness, your test scores, and your oral board performance go further than they used to. Show up ready, and you’ll find more doors open than you might expect.

Sources: NewsNation, EPR Fireworks