SANBORN, N.Y. — Every day, Rob Hoover pulls double duty running his family’s fifth-generation dairy farm and serving as Sanborn Volunteer Fire Department’s third-generation fire chief.

Some of his employees on the farm are also his volunteer firefighters.

“I have a good group of guys and women that put their all into it,” said Hoover, whose son is his deputy chief.

If a call sounds severe enough, Hoover has to shut down production and get out the door.

“It's going to sort of raise havoc getting things back, going,” Hoover said. “It means we're going to be working a lot later. We may lose a little bit because of shutdown and then startup, but the person that we're going to help or those people are going to help, I think that takes precedence.”

Even when they get on scene, Hoover said his crew is stretched thin as a result of the ongoing volunteer firefighter shortage.

“We're getting less and less. 2003 was my first year as chief, and I had 65 guys and now I'm down about 35," he said. "I've had a good portion pass away just because they aged.”

According to the 2023 economic impact report by the Firefighters Association of the State of New York, volunteer firefighters save taxpayers an estimated $4.7 billion annually. However, as people take on extra jobs to earn income or age out of the service, there are fewer and fewer people volunteering to respond to those calls. 

In part two of this volunteer firefighter crisis series, we will learn more about a state task force that put together a set of recommendations for fire services to remedy the recruitment and retention challenges.

Hoover said he will likely remain as Sanborn’s fire chief for as long as he can serve, and his son may take his place.

Related links:

Part I: Double duty: Farmer and firefighter grapples with recruitment crisis

Part II: Examining the relationship between public policy and volunteer firefighter shortage

Part III: Fire company boosts recruitment by building relationships