willing to help their neighbors”High fuel costs, ever increasing property & school taxes and outrageous real estate values have forced families to have multiple incomes and/or travel outside the area for higher paying jobs. All this is evident by the limited daytime crews most departments are experiencing. It is not uncommon for depts. to be toned out 2 or 3 times before any apparatus responds. Everyday, membership dwindles because of family matters, job changes, health issues, even lifestyle changes. Everyone has less free time but being a volunteer FF can be very rewarding.
It’s certainly not for everyone, only for those who care about others. The next 5-10 yrs will be a critical time for the volunteer fire service. You don’t just become a FF overnight. It takes years of training and experience to become proficient at saving lives. There are also many titles available to a volunteer. Besides FF, there are fund raising, maintenance on trucks and buildings, book-keeping, you name it. Any talent can be utilized.
As many lifelong residents have witnessed, taxes have increased many fold with the demand on services required to support our areas growth. Although most newcomers feel they’re getting a bargain compared to large metropolatin cities, volunteers help keep costs at bay. Municipalities would be forced to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to finance a paid fire dept.-AKA-higher taxes !!
Please click here to email the department about becoming a member.