Document Type

Report

Hancock County Volunteer Fire Department Needs Assessment

Authors

Alexander Rezk, University of MaineFollow
Marcella H. Sorg, Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, University of MaineFollow
Kathryn Ballingall, University of Maine - MainFollow
Isaac Vallejos, University of MaineFollow

Publisher

Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center

Rights and Access Note

This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. In addition, no permission is required from the rights-holder(s) for non-commercial uses. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Publication Date

2020

Publisher location

Orono, ME

Abstract/ Summary

Rural Volunteer Fire Departments in Maine are facing an existential crisis of personnel recruitment and retention. Hancock County’s rural volunteer fire departments approached the University of Maine to engage in this study so as to identify key issues and chart a path forwards.

The IAFC identified five key areas of concern which threaten the sustainability and continued operation of volunteer fire systems nationally: (1) changes in traditional volunteer sourcing, (2) failure to collect and analyze data, (3) over-regulation, (4) unnecessary division and differentiation between volunteer fire departments, and (5) marketing deficits (IAFC 2018). This report considers how the IAFC conceptualizes of each of these, and in turn, how they reflect the emergent picture of rural volunteer fire decline in Maine.

Repository Citation

Rezk, Alexander; Sorg, Marcella H.; Ballingall, Kathryn; and Vallejos, Isaac, "Hancock County Volunteer Fire Department Needs Assessment" (2020). Health & Public Safety. 88.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mcspc_healthsafety/88

Version

publisher's version of the published document