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Greenwich volunteers: recruitment video, training surge and retention challenges
Summary
Assistant Chief Tom Liner said the department onboarded 12 new volunteer firefighters in 2025, ran over 500 training sessions totaling ~16,000 hours, and received a $10,000 donation for a professional recruitment video; staff and committee members flagged retention and time‑commitment barriers.
The department described recent volunteer recruitment and training activity and flagged retention as a principal challenge.
Assistant Chief Tom Liner said the volunteer ranks include about 60 interior‑certified and 18 exterior‑certified firefighters. In 2025 the department fully onboarded 12 new volunteers; several others completed Firefighter I training last year. Liner said the training program delivered more than 500 sessions and roughly 16,000 training hours across career and volunteer personnel.
Liner noted a $10,000 private donation funded a professionally produced recruitment video (made with New York University’s film school) expected to be released soon. Committee members and staff emphasized that while recruitment can bring applicants to the door, retention is constrained by long training requirements (Firefighter I is a ~175‑hour course) and competing time demands for younger recruits.
Committee members asked about year‑to‑year onboarding levels and whether recruitment initiatives are yielding durable increases. Staff said volunteer numbers nationally and locally are down and the department will continue outreach and onboarding improvements; the committee offered to assist with townwide recruitment support.
The committee did not take votes on recruitment policy; members and staff agreed to follow up about outreach coordination and the recruitment video release.
