A legislative committee in West Virginia is looking into county-paid fire departments as a means of recruiting and retaining volunteer firefighters, which is a growing problem in the state. According to the Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, one of the issues that the committee hopes to combat with this move is making firefighting more appealing for current volunteers working two jobs in a difficult economy. Another major complaint is workers' compensation premiums and the level at which firefighters are paid after fire-related injuries. Moreover, rising fuel costs are a rising budgetary concern.

West Virginia's Fire Marshal Sterling Lewis called the concept of creating county-paid departments a potentially good idea, but added that some volunteer units could lose their tax-exempt status as a result.