Mergers and Consolidations: Uniting Departments for a Safer Future

Fire Engineering Podcast Network · May 19, 2026 · 1h 21m

Across the volunteer fire service, conversations about mergers and consolidations are becoming impossible to ignore. Departments are facing increasing demands, shrinking membership, and rising expectations from the communities they serve—forcing leaders to take a hard look at how they operate and whether working together might be the path forward. But these decisions are about more than budgets and efficiency; they involve tradition, identity, and the future of the fire service itself. On this episode of Professional Volunteer Fire Department, Brad Pinsky takes an honest look at what mergers…