NFPA Journal - Spring 2022 - 34

Perspectives
Greg, what would you identify
as the biggest challenges faced
by the nation's fire service going
forward?
GC: A big one is resources, both
money and personnel. A lot of fire
departments can easily tell you what
their needs are and justify them, but
the communities that they serve just
don't have the financial resources to
support them. The federal government
has done an OK job of putting
out grant dollars, but that money
isn't a drop in the bucket compared
to the need that's out there. This is a
huge issue for volunteer departments
across the country, not just money but
members. In Pennsylvania, they went
from having close to 400,000 volunteer
firefighters in the 1970s to 30,000
or so today.
Why do you think that is?
GC: In the case of Pennsylvania, if you
look at the central part of the state,
which is beautiful country, there's not
much there from an economic standpoint
[in a lot of those communities]
to support a fire department.
That's true in many other parts of
the country as well. There's been this
hollowing out of the central part of
the United States, because people
are leaving for jobs and opportunities
on the coasts. There aren't as
many people around to be volunteers
[for fire departments], and on top of
that it's much harder to be a volunteer
than when I started, because
back then there were no rules. Today,
there are a lot of rules-which is really
good, because we're trying to protect
those people-but it means that being
a volunteer firefighter requires much
more time and training than it used
to. I can go down to my church and
volunteer two hours week, and they'll
be happy to have me. If I went down
to my local volunteer fire department
and told them that I could give them
two hours a week, they'd say, 'Sorry.
Thank you for wanting to be a part of
it, but two hours a week is not going
to get it done.'
34 | NFPA JOURNAL * SPRING 2022
really don't know what the fix should
be. Part of the fix is money, because
nothing is free.
Russ Sanders
" Without question, time
has brought improvements
to firefighter safety. When I
started, it was the Wild West.
We did what we needed to do,
whether it was water rescues
or train derailments, but we
didn't have the training. We
didn't have the equipment.
We didn't have the resources
that they have today. And
that's one of the reasons I
think we lost a whole lot more
firefighters back then than we
do today. "
As the former US Fire Administrator,
what can the federal
government do about this crisis?
GC: I'd love to see them better fund
the US Fire Administration so that
they could be the key to providing
training and thinking about what
else we need to do. I think part of
it is just getting the elected leadership
to understand the challenges.
It's not that they don't care; I think
they care tremendously. They just
As you both hang up the boots
after 50-plus years in the fire service,
what advice or wisdom would
you offer the next generation of
men and women who are just starting
down the leadership path?
GC: I think the easiest advice I could
give is you have to be a lifelong
learner. I still try and do that. I learn
things from people old and young.
Another thing is to look outside of
your own group of people and your
own comfort zone. I've done things
where people have asked, 'Why are you
involved in this? What does this have
to do with being a fire chief?' It has to
do with growth. You don't know where
you're going find those neat little
things that make you think, 'Wow,
how do I transition this into the fire
service to make it better?' Throughout
my entire career, I've seen how the
fire service is pretty good at stealing
ideas from other people and areas
and putting them to very good use.
I hope it continues. I don't have any
reason to believe that it won't, because
the people being hired today are just
amazing, smart people.
RS: You have to embrace change.
You can't fake it. Change has to energize
you, because things are going
change and if you're going to be an
influencer or a change-factor yourself,
you have to look forward to it.
I've seen so many people that have
to be dragged to change, and then
they're reluctant and they resist-
you'll never be successful that way.
It's not going to be the way it was;
it wasn't for me in 1967, and it won't
be for the next generation the way it
was in 2021. So go in with that attitude
as you go up through the ranks
and I think you'll have a wonderful
career. I know I have. I wouldn't
change what I've done for anything,
not one single thing. I've loved every
minute of it.
NFPA Journal - Spring 2022

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