Nearly half of Maine fire departments surveyed reported being too short-staffed for a call

Forty-seven percent of Maine fire departments responding to a statewide survey said they had been too short-staffed to respond to a call during the previous three years, according to research by the state fire marshal's office and the University of Maine.

The finding describes responding departments, rather than every department in Maine or the share of calls left unanswered. The 2025-26 workforce presentation says researchers sent the survey to 347 departments and received 219 responses, a 63% response rate. It separately estimates that Maine has 398 fire departments.

Researchers also collected 168 department rosters and interviewed 25 fire chiefs from 14 counties. They describe the work as a snapshot of 2025-26 conditions, with workforce information that will need updating.

The staffing problem is especially pronounced during weekday daytime hours, when volunteers may be working elsewhere. Among uncompensated volunteer departments, 76% reported being understaffed during weekdays, compared with 11% on weeknights and 13% on weekends, the presentation says.

Volunteer service remains central to the system. The survey found that 94% of responding departments relied at least partly on volunteers. Departments cited family obligations, training requirements and aging among the reasons people leave.

The pressure also reflects a changing workload. Statewide incident-reporting data in the presentation show a 78% rise in total calls between 2014 and 2024. Medical calls rose 42% over the same period. Firefighters also respond to storms, hazardous materials and other emergencies beyond building fires.

Neighboring departments help one another through mutual-aid arrangements, but calling for assistance can mean drawing on another community facing similar staffing constraints. Researchers documented departments sharing equipment and personnel and coordinating training as they try to meet demand.

The presentation recommends maintaining a reliable firefighter-workforce information system, making training easier to reach and encouraging employers to give volunteers time for calls and instruction. Those are recommendations, rather than new statewide requirements or funded programs.

UMaine released an account of the findings Oct. 16. A comprehensive report is expected in early 2027; the fire marshal's presentation is the current published summary.