An ongoing shortage of volunteer firefighters has reached a critical level that could lead to delayed response times to emergencies, and, potentially, departments being unable to respond to any urgent calls, according to six South Jersey fire chiefs.
CBS News Philadelphia spoke to the chiefs as part of a 15-month examination into the challenges volunteer fire departments are facing in recruiting new firefighters.
Winslow Township Fire Chief Marc Rigberg prompted the examination after he challenged CBS News Philadelphia to dive deeper into the topic after a reporter interviewed him in May 2024 about his department closing three fire stations due to a lack of volunteers…