Governor Josh Shapiro says the state is facing a major shortage of firefighters.
“The last time our five year study was done, which was roughly 2018, we had 22,000 fewer volunteer firefighters than we had in the early 2000s. When the new data comes out this year, we’re going to the see that number gap increase even further.”
Shapiro says the same struggle is happening with professional firefighters as well.
The issue isn’t reserved for just firefighters, EMT numbers are dwindling too. Shapiro said that the state is down about 6,000 EMTs compared to a decade ago.
He says that his budget proposal has $36 million set aside to invest in critical resources for firefighters and EMS—including raising salaries, updating equipment, and more.
