Greensburg fire officials hope electronic signs will give recruits the message
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Greensburg fire Chief Tom Bell wants to try out a new recruitment method — electronic signs.
He is planning to buy four signs with a $109,600 state grant that could be installed outside three fire departments and city hall, as long Greensburg officials give the OK.
“We picked the three fire departments that have the most traffic,” he told city council members Monday.
Bell presented renderings of the signs to council that could have rotating electronic information, in addition to messages seeking new firefighters.
“The biggest thing we’re trying to do is recruitment and retention with the signs,” he said. “The biggest way to recruitment is advertisement.
”If we have these signs out near the high school for (fire company) No. 1, Pittsburgh Street for No. 7, … Otterman Street for No. 6, I think that was the idea to reach out to the people that drive by … and hopefully it helps.”
Bell hopes to have them installed in the spring, if approved. The messages on the signs could be different and based on what’s pertinent at the specific locations, such as events or public meetings, he said.
“You can use it however you want to. … We just want that so we’re always advertising for firefighters,” he said.
The number of volunteer firefighters in Pennsylvania plummeted almost 90% from 1970 to 2024, according to the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute. It’s estimated only about 38,000 volunteer firefighters remain in the state.
Volunteer-based departments around the region have tried different methods to boost their ranks and ability to respond to calls, such as paying some firefighters to staff stations and offering free housing to college students.