The nation’s firefighting forces are a mere quarter of what they used to be decades ago, and the shortage has hit crisis level in Chester County.

New marketing efforts are heralding the call for help, but there seems to be more challenges than solutions to the problem.

“We’ve been heading this way for a pretty long time,” said Chester County Department of Emergency Services Director Robert Kagel in a Philadelphia Inquirer report by Michaelle Bond. “We’re not at a point where no one’s going to show up if somebody calls for help. But I feel confident saying we are at a crisis level today. If we ignore the issue, we’ll go from crisis to catastrophic.”

Today’s volunteer firefighters are required to undergo more training and feel the pressure to raise more money, while long commutes take good candidates out of consideration and two-income households increasingly struggle to find the time to help, the article stated.

Paying professionals to replace volunteers statewide would cost taxpayers $10 billion a year.

Instead, counties are considering the new January state law allowing for income and/or property-tax credits for volunteer firefighters, as well as other creative marketing initiatives like the website HelpFightFire.com.

“Everyone is trying something new and creative and different. What has worked in the past may not work now, so it’s something dynamic that you have to change and work toward,” said Chester County Fire Chiefs Association President Neil Vaughn.

Read more about the local volunteer firefighter crisis in the Philadelphia Inquirer here.