1-800-FIRE-LINE

1-800-FIRE-LINE is a national campaign to help retain and recruit both emergency and non-emergency volunteers in the fire and emergency medical services. Use the navigation menu at the left to learn more about 1-800-FIRE-LINE and access resources for implemening and marketing the campaign in your state or locality.

 

 

In 1994, a group of volunteer fire service leaders from New Jersey met to discuss the problem of recruiting new firefighters and emergency medical personnel. From shared experiences, they determined that one of the major problems with recruitment is that the fire service had not adequately educated the public about the need for volunteers. Within a year, the committee started a statewide recruitment campaign for New Jersey. The plan for the campaign was simple: advertise the need for volunteers and give the public a toll-free number to call with a statewide answering point. This number was 1-800-FIRE-LINE.

 

In 1997, the pioneering New Jersey firefighters partnered with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) to expand the program nationally. The NVFC adopted the 1-800-FIRE-LINE campaign to expand retention and recruitment outreach and promote volunteerism for fire/EMS responders, not only in New Jersey, but in every state across the U.S. While the NVFC operated the 1-800-FIRE-LINE number at the national level, every state was encouraged to register and implement the number independently.

 

In 2006, the NVFC decided to expand its retention and recruitment initiatives to reach out not only to emergency responders, but non-emergency volunteers as well. Therefore, Fire Corps, a federally-funded non-profit program administered by the NVFC, took over national management of the 1-800-FIRE-LINE number to communicate to the public the need for both types of assistance in local fire/EMS departments.

 

Inquiries regarding the operation or implementation of 1-800-FIRE-LINE or requests for additional 1-800-FIRE-LINE materials can be directed to the Fire Corps national office at 1-888-FC-INFO1 (324-6361) or info@firecorps.org.