[user104658]

Originally Posted by smudgie

Perhaps the answer is to stagger the taking on of new firefighters, a quota per year, enough so that 'desk jobs' can be done by the older and not so fit ones in their later years.

Might sound a bit idealistic, but then there is no easy answer.

One thing is for sure,this country can not afford a work force that retired at 50 and now 55 .
Okay when we popped off at 70 ish maybe, but we are all expected to live so much longer now.

The problem with that is that youth doesn't scale with lifespan. People are living to be older due to medical interventions that extend their final years, but a 65 year old now is no more physically fit than a 65 year old 20 or 30 years ago. So what you're describing is a situation where people work until they are too frail to do anything else. Or just end up "popping off" early because they're working harder than their body is able, and masking the symptoms with aforementioned medications.

If anything, the problem is that we're living too long. If they could find a way to keep people YOUTHFUL - not just ALIVE - for longer, then great, everyone could work for longer... but like I said, that's not what's happening.