Syosset Seeing Success

I came across this great story while scouring the web for recruitment success stories and was not surprised to see that this department was having success in bolstering their ranks.

According to this news story on their web site, the Syosset Fire Department in Nassau County, Long Island NY gained 20 new recruits as a result of a full-court press to increase their membership last year.

Their complete package approach to recruitment netted a 15% increase in firefighters for this busy suburban volunteer fire department. If you remember, they’re the same folks who took an innovative approach to adding a touch of gray to their ranks last year too.

A Touch of Gray

This article from Long Island NY talks about an often-overlooked audience in the volunteer fire service today: 40+.

Age is Nothing But a Number at Syosset Fire Dept.

Joining later in life is becoming more the norm

I love the fact that Syosset allows each company in the department to have its own identity. I took this photo when I visited all three of their stations about a year ago with my good friend Rob Leonard.

Don’t discount or write-off the value of people coming to the fire service with some life-experience under their belt. That maturity can turn out to be a huge advantage to your fire department, especially when teamed with the free spirits of Generation Y.

As I wrote in “From the X-Box to the Box Alarm” — This demo includes settled homeowners; their kids are growing to an age of independence; focused on giving back; perhaps even looking for an outlet – or just an excuse to get out of the house.