The research problem was that the Martinsville Fire and EMS Department has not been successful in the recruitment of volunteer firefighters, which has resulted in insufficient numbers of personnel during firefighting operations. The purpose of this applied research paper was to identify what motivates people to become a volunteer firefighter, to identify what were considered the industry best practices for the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters and to determine what strategies the Martinsville Fire and EMS Department should implement to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters. The descriptive research method was used for this applied research project. The research approach entailed evaluating collected literature on the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters, as well as identify industry best practices for the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters.Literature was explored to answer the following research questions: a) What motivates people to become volunteer firefighters?, b) What are considered the best industry practices for the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters?, and c) What strategies should the Martinsville Fire and EMS Department implement to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters? In addition, a survey was created in an attempt to determine what motivates people to become volunteer firefighters. Research procedures included review of available, applicable literature and the development of an online survey instrument to gather additional information on what motivates someone to become a volunteer firefighter.The results of the literature review and survey, which also are the recommendations, suggest that the department should consider incorporating the following into its recruitment and retention program: improve volunteer applicant screening to determine their motivation for joining the department, evaluate the current leadership of both career and volunteer officers, evaluate current training programs, and implement a formal recruitment and retention program that includes various incentives for our volunteers.