Delaware County has approved funding for a comprehensive assessment of its volunteer fire service, amid growing concern over declining firefighter numbers and long-term operational sustainability.
The Delaware County Board of Supervisors has authorized funding for the countywide Fire Service Assessment, which will be conducted by Emergency Services Consulting International (ESCI).
The move follows recommendations from the Delaware County Fire Advisory Board’s Recruitment and Retention Committee and has the backing of a majority of the county’s fire chiefs.
Delaware County, located in the Catskill Mountains, is served entirely by 28 volunteer fire departments. Together, those departments responded to more than 4,200 fire-related incidents in 2025.
County leaders said the number of active volunteer firefighters has continued to fall and is approaching crisis level. In response, the Fire Advisory Board established a Recruitment and Retention Committee to identify ways to preserve and strengthen fire protection across the county.
Working with the Office of Emergency Services, the board issued a request for proposals from public safety consulting firms to carry out the fire service assessment. Two proposals were received, with ESCI selected to conduct the work.
The Board of Supervisors approved Resolution No. 96, authorizing the transfer of $73,828 to retain ESCI for the project.
ESCI, founded in 1976 and the consulting firm of the International Association of Fire Chiefs since 2008, has completed hundreds of emergency service assessments across the United States and Canada.
The fire service assessment will be conducted through electronic data collection, GIS analysis, virtual stakeholder meetings, and interviews with fire chiefs, emergency services personnel, local officials, and Fire Advisory Board members. ESCI expects the project to take about nine months after initiation and data collection begin.
