[slowhandluke]

A lot of these small volunteer departments do not have the resources to raise enough cash to buy new equipment especially something like a new ladder truck which costs about one million a pop excluding tools and equipment. The state provides some money for such purchases, but that never covers the full difference between what the community and the department can raise and the cost of the truck itself.

That's not the way it works here in NJ. The volunteer fire departments have just as good or better equipment than the professional groups.

Given a choice between higher salaries and better equipment, the unions tend go for higher salaries. Then they use the excuse of old equipment to get a higher budget, most of which goes into higher salaries. Rinse, repeat.

Money given to the volunteer groups goes into training & equipment. They tend to have good equipment.

[2CAVTrooper]

There are departments around here that still have 70’s vintage apparatus.