FARMINGTON (AP) — Fire departments across Franklin County have scheduled a meeting to discuss ways they can work more closely during a time of fewer volunteers and tighter budgets.

Farmington Selectman Ryan Morgan brought up the idea of a countywide meeting to see if working together would ensure sufficient staff and equipment.

He told the Morning Sentinel (http://bit.ly/1izCKBU ) a meeting to discuss possible solutions, including regionalization, is scheduled for April 30 at Franklin Memorial Hospital.

Franklin County fire departments, like rural fire departments across the state, have been unable to stem the steady drop in volunteers and can’t afford to pay for full-time staff.

In Farmington alone, the department has lost 18 volunteers in the last five years. Those that remain tend to be older.

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