Forty neighbors turned out to meet the fire company on RecruitNY day

The doors were open at 146 Speigletown Road on Saturday, April 18, and about 40 neighbors walked through them.

The occasion was RecruitNY weekend — April 18–19 this year — when fire departments across New York open their firehouses to anyone curious about volunteering. The chief billed Speigletown’s Saturday as a fire department meet and greet and made a day of it — less recruiting pitch, more open house: come see the apparatus, meet the people who show up when you call 911, and ask the questions you’d never get answered from a flyer.

Forty is a good number for a hamlet this size.

Why departments do this

RecruitNY exists because the volunteer fire service statewide is stretched. Volunteer departments across New York have faced falling membership and rising call volume at the same time — and a department can’t recruit people who’ve never set foot in the firehouse. A Saturday of coffee and truck tours turns an intimidating institution into neighbors you’ve met. The program is run by the Firefighters Association of the State of New York (FASNY), which has organized it since 2011 across the state’s 1,700-plus volunteer departments.

What people usually don’t know

The questions that come up at these open houses are the same ones that keep people from applying. From the campaign’s own FAQ:

• There is no maximum age to join a volunteer fire department. If you can meet the medical requirements for the role you’re applying for, your application will be considered.
• You don’t need any experience. Most volunteer firefighters and EMS providers arrive with none — the department and local training programs provide all the training you need.
• Gear costs you nothing. Your department provides the personal protective equipment you need, at no cost to you.
• You’re insured. Volunteers get coverage similar to workers’ compensation for duty-related injuries and illness, with no out-of-pocket cost.
• “Firefighter” isn’t the only job. If you don’t meet the criteria for interior firefighting, there are roles as an exterior firefighter, a driver, fire police, an EMS provider, or in a support role — each with its own requirements.

For anyone who came by in April and is still thinking about it — or anyone who missed it — the standing invitation hasn’t changed: Thursday nights at 7 PM is when the company drills, and visitors are welcome.

• What volunteering actually involves — the training, the time, the gear, and the LOSAP service award
• Apply through the company
• Questions: join@speigletownfire.org

RecruitNY is an undertaking of the Firefighters Association of the State of New York (FASNY), established in 2011; qualification details from the campaign’s 2026 FAQ sheet. Turnout figure per the Speigletown fire chief.