ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) — Fire departments across the Southern Tier are hosting open houses this weekend to encourage the recruitment and retention of local volunteer firefighters and EMTs.
The campaign is scheduled for Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24. During the event fire departments from across the Southern Tier and statewide will conduct open houses, inviting the public to come and learn more about becoming a volunteer firefighter.
According to the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York, the number of volunteer firefighters statewide declined from 140,000 in the early 1990s to less than 90,000 just a few years ago. EMTs have seen a decrease from more than 50,000 to 35,000 during the same period.
FASNY says that RecruitNY and other initiatives are starting to make a difference and approximately 20,000 firefighters have been added to the ranks of departments statewide over the past few years.
https://www.recruitny.org/participants has the list of all counties participating in the open house. On the website, you can click on more info to see the specifics of the event and what time each event starts. A list of participating departments is below.
Chemung County
| Community Fire & Rescue Inc | 321 State Route 224 Van Etten, NY | (607) 589-2040 | April 23 |
| Elmira Heights | 215 Elmwood Ave Elmira Heights, NY | (607) 733-6580 | April 23 |
| Southport Volunteer Fire Department | 1001 Carl Street Elmira, NY | (607) 733-7599 | April 23 |
Steuben County
| Painted Post Fire Department | 261 Steuben St Painted Post, NY | (607) 962-4605 | April 23 |
| East Campbell Vol. Fire Department | 4581 Meads Creek Road Painted Post, NY | (607) 936-4756 | April 23 |
| Woodhull | 5332 Cr-129 Woodhull, NY | (607) 281-9615 | April 23 |
| Tuscarora Volunteer Fire Department | 1358 County Route 85 Addison, NY | (607) 542-7424 | April 24 |
| Addison Fire Department | 1 Tuscarora St Addison Ny, NY | (607) 359-3500 | April 24 |
| Savona | 15 Mccoy St Savona, NY | (607) 583-2620 | April 24 |
| Howard Volunteer Fire Dept | 3622 County Route 70a Avoca, NY | (607) 542-6500 | April 23 |
| Forest View Gang Mills Fire | 125 Forest Drive Painted Post, NY | (607) 962-1507 | April 24 |
| Canisteo Fire Department | 14 S. Main Street Canisteo, NY | (607) 607-5901 | April 23 |
| Gibson Fire Department | 2985 College Ave Corning, NY | (607) 962-4182 | April 24 |
| Tuscarora | 1358 County Route 85 Addison, NY | (607) 542-7424 | April 24 |
Tompkins County
| Mclean Fire Department | 2 Stevens Rd Mclean, NY | (607) 838-3700 | April 23 |
| Neptun Hose Co #1 Of Dryden | 26 North Street Dryden, NY | (607) 844-8124 | April 23 |
| Groton Fire Department | 108 E Cortland St Groton, NY | (607) 898-3135 | April 23 |
| Varna Volunteer Fire Company | 14 Turkey Hill Rd Varna, NY | (607) 273-2407 | April 23 – 24 |
| Lansing Fire Department | 80 Ridge Rd. Lansing, NY | (607) 533-4023 | April 23 |
| Enfield Volunteer Fire Company | 172 Enfield Main Road Ithaca, NY | (607) 272-8757 | April 23 – 24 |
| Ithaca Fire Department, Neriton Volunteer Fire Co. 9 | 1240trumansburg Rd Ithaca, NY | (607) 272-1234 | April 23 |
Schuyler County
| Beaver Dams Volunteer Fire Department | 1165 Co Rte 19 Beaver Dams, NY | (607) 962-0647 | April 24 |
| Valois Logan Hector Volunteer Fire Company | 5736 State Route 414 Hector, NY | (607) 227-5318 | April 23 |
| Odessa Fire Department | 300 E Main St Cayuta, NY | (607) 594-2157 | April 23 – 24 |
