PARIS – Officials from several Oxford County towns and fire departments acknowledged Wednesday night that the ranks of volunteer firefighters are decreasing, in part, because of required training and daytime employment responsibilities.

They plan to meet next week to come up with possible solutions, including consolidating personnel and equipment.

The workshop at the Paris Fire Station on Western Avenue was sponsored by the Oxford County Municipal Officers Association to address funding, volunteer recruiting and retention, and standards.

West Paris Town Manager John White said the town’s department has inadequate daytime coverage and a shrinking pool of volunteers.

“Retention is hard,” White said. “They realize it becomes too much of a commitment.”

Chief Brad Frost of the Paris Fire Department said the requirements of volunteer firefighters are the same as full-time firefighters, with approximately 170 hours of training and 40 to 50 hours of refresher training in subsequent years.

“When they find that out, a lot of the people coming in looking for jobs walk out the door,” Frost said.

Norway Selectman Les Flanders said the disappearance of factories from the Norway-Paris area has led to residents working out of town. He also said employers in the area may not be sympathetic to volunteers who have to take time out of work to respond to a call.

“In some cases, not only are they not paid, they’re not allowed to leave,” Flanders said.

Rob Dixon, assistant chief of the Andover Fire Department, said the public needs to be aware of the problems facing the departments.

“If the public considers it as not an issue, it’s all for naught,” he said.

Dixon also said it is possible for political issues to undercut the departments.

Loretta Mikols, chairwoman of the Greenwood selectmen, characterized the issue as “people who know not of what they speak having input to a highly skilled area of public safety.”

She said nonvoting or part-time residents make up 73 percent of Greenwood’s population, and they are being excluded from discussions on the Fire Department.

“A great number of residents in our town don’t have a say in their own public safety,” Mikols said.

Town Manager Vern Maxfield of Woodstock disagreed with Mikols’ suggestion that part-time residents have greater participation in the issue, saying he was not sure the line could be drawn there.

“I would dare say there’s more complaints about road safety than fire safety,” he said.

The topic of possibly consolidating fire departments also arose during the evening.

Selectman David Ivey of Paris suggested that fire departments could be staffed with full-time employees or regionalized.

Flanders said Norway and Paris might possibly share their vehicles, as well as chiefs.

“It sounds like you guys are 90 miles per hour, seven days a week,” Flanders said of the volunteer chiefs.

The workshop will continue at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Paris Fire Station with a focus on possible solutions to departments’ problems.