Lakewood volunteer firefighters have dropped from 150 to 32. So they're on a hiring binge.

LAKEWOOD - A dramatic reduction in volunteers and a sharp rise in calls for service have prompted the Lakewood Fire Department to hire more new full-time firefighters than it has in decades, increasing its paid crew by more than 50%, officials said.

At least half of those new recruits will be on the job this week and the other half by early 2025, raising the ranks of full-time firefighters by 16, from 24 to 40, in the coming months.

“We still have a valuable volunteer fire company that provides a great service,” Fire Chief Jonathan Yahr said. “But people are busier now so it is harder to get volunteers to commit for all of the training.”

The cost for the added crew members will be just over $1 million annually, which was budgeted in the current $9.6 million 2024 fire district budget approved in February.

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That budget included an overall increase of $2.3 million over the 2023 spending plan, which is funded through a separate fire tax and overseen by a Fire District Board of Commissioners, not the Township Committee.

More calls for firefighters

The Lakewood Fire Department, which dates back to 1888, boasted 150 volunteers just 30 years ago, Yahr said. But it dropped down to 65 in 2019 and currently stands at just 32.

At the same time, the number of annual fire calls has grown from 3,652 in 2021 to 4,045 in 2022 and 4,274 in 2023.

So far this year, the department has responded to 2,510 calls, putting it on a pace to reach about 4,800 by the end of 2024, the most ever.

Officials blame the need for more paid firefighters and the increased call volume on Lakewood’s skyrocketing population, which has grown from 92,843 in 2010 to 135,138 in 2020 and is estimated at more than 145,000 today.

“With increased call volume and the size of the city, we need more rigs on the road and more people,” Yahr said. “The need has gotten so high that we need to increase it.”

Currently, the township operates eight firehouses citywide, including the department headquarters at 733 Cedar Bridge Road.

But only two of those firehouses — Engine 5, located behind the department headquarters on Cedar Ridge Road, and Ladder 5 at 800 Monmouth Avenue — have full-time, 24-hour paid crews.

Both of those companies are staffed with rotating groups of three firefighters and one supervising officer working 24-hour shifts every three days.

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The remaining five firehouses — at 170 Lafayette Blvd., 300 River Ave., 976 New Hampshire Ave., 1350 Lanes Mill Road and 119 First St. — are staffed by 32 volunteers who respond only when called.

“We have them on a respond-from-home model. We don’t have a live-in program for them,” said Lakewood Fire Administrator Yehuda Beer. “If a call comes in, the paid staff responds first and go to the scene and will request additional help if needed, then there are volunteers.”

The department’s full-time paid staff includes 24 firefighters, six lieutenants, two captains and one full-time chief.

Beer said the growing number of calls and reduced volunteers required a new influx of paid firefighters, which began in mid-July when eight full-time firefighters were hired at a cost of about $504,000.

'I felt the brotherhood right away'

They have spent three weeks undergoing training and went on the job July 21, Yahr said. Another group of eight recruits will be appointed by the end of 2024 and be in place by late January, he added.

That means the overall fire department paid staff will grow from 32 to more than 50, with a 66% increase in the number of firefighters — from 24 to 40 — the largest in department history.

“I think the growth is excellent,” said Fire Commissioner Harrison Pfeffer. “The town is radically expanding and we need more fire protection.”

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Most of the new recruits have already been volunteers in Lakewood and elsewhere, Yahr said, giving them experience beyond what a new recruit might offer.

“I felt the brotherhood right away, we all like being part of a team,” said Mike Muratore, 28, a former Lakewood volunteer and one of the newest firefighters who spoke during a training session. “They really light a fire under you.”

Quadry Lyons, 28, joined the paid crew after 10 years as a volunteer in three area departments.

“I like firefighting,” he said. “It is like a sport, you have to push yourself.”

The drop in volunteer firefighters is not limited to Lakewood, according to data from the National Volunteer Firefighting Council. It reports that the number of volunteer firefighters nationwide fell from 897,750 in 1984 to 676,900 in 2020.

During the same period, the U.S. population grew rapidly from 237.1 million to 331.4 million, an increase of more than 95 million people.

A state task force issued a report last year suggesting that local departments implement incentives to attract more volunteers, ranging from more viable training to college credits and scholarships to entice would-be volunteers.

When all 16 new paid Lakewood firefighters are on the job, they will form a second paid engine company that will be housed in the Engine 5 firehouse. That site is downtown and is being renovated to allow for the second company.

“The ideal area is the downtown area, ideal for a new engine company,” Yahr said. “They do different things on the fire scene. We are adding an engine company to the downtown area.”

The department will also move Ladder Company 5 from the Monmouth Avenue site to the volunteer station at 119 First St. and reassign those volunteers to the other locations.

“We are doing renovations now but it will accommodate a 24/7 paid firefighters,” Beer said. “And it has room for the engines.”

But officials stressed that the volunteers remain a critical part of the firefighting force and will always be involved and active.

“The chief has said that as long as he has guys that show up to volunteer he is going to operate a portion of the fire department for volunteers,” Pfeffer said. “It helps the taxpayers for sure. Every volunteer is saving you thousands upon thousands of dollars.”

Joe Strupp is an award-winning journalist with 35 years’ experience who covers Lakewood and several local communities for APP.com and the Asbury Park Press. He is also the author of four books, including Killing Journalism on the state of the news media, and an adjunct media professor at Rutgers University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Reach him at jstrupp@gannettnj.com and at 732-413-3840. Follow him on Twitter and TruthSocial at @joestrupp

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Lakewood volunteer firefighters have dropped from 150 to 32. So they're on a hiring binge.