Some Illinois lawmakers want to sweeten the pot to become a volunteer firefighter

Posted on March 24, 2022
State Sen. Christopher Belt (D-Swansea). (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – It seems like serving on a volunteer fire department is something more people did in Ye Olde Tymes. Now, people are busy, work in town, or whatever.

Maybe a $500 tax credit would be an incentive for more people to join up.

Illinois Firefighters Association lobbyist Margaret Vaughn is pushing that bill and cites a recent Quad Cities area case.

“Can you imagine this? This just happened recently, a week or two ago. A 100-unit apartment fire,” Vaughn said. “Under NFPA standards, it would require thirty firefighters. Five showed up.”

“The difficulty fire departments have with recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel creates a public safety crisis that must be addressed head-on,” said a sponsor, State Sen. Christopher Belt (D-Swansea). We rely on these individuals to help us in both emergency and non-emergency situations.”

Fire officials and Vaughn joined a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers at a Capitol news conference.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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