When duty calls, volunteers are ready — for now
Drive past the South Fayette Township Volunteer Fire Department along Millers Run Road when the garage bay doors are open, and you’ll see the fleet of gold and black fire and rescue vehicles catching some sunshine, ready to deploy when a call comes in.
You will also see evidence of the company’s legacy of service to the community: Parked in the back is a 1937 Ahrens Fox — a combination pumper, city service ladder truck, water tank and hose wagon and rescue vehicle — that navigated the dirt roads and rolling topographyof this once sleepy village.
The truck isn’t the only thing that’s been around here for over 80 years: Ted Mitchell, 89, has been volunteering here for more than 70 years, part of a generation that answered the call of service, oftenwithout ever being asked.
Of the 2,462 fire companies serving the more than 2,500 municipalities in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, over 90% of them are staffed by volunteers who fulfill a multitude of duties — not just when there’s a fire or a chemical spill, but also just to keep the equipment functional and their facility in working order.
Mike Mikus, 52, has been volunteering here for over 12 years. He said there are two challenges they face: “Getting people to step up and volunteer to serve and raising the monies needed so that our equipment is capable of handling whatever disaster we are called to.”
Mr. Mikus said he joined when he turned 40 and had come to a point in his life where he believed it was time to give back. “I really felt a calling. You always see stories that fire departments are short-staffed, and I wanted to serve my community,” he said.
“Bonus was I knew through the training required to do this, I’d start taking better care of my health, and I didn’t want to join a gym. The exercise that comes along with it was just a bonus,” he said, laughing.
Mr. Mikus also said he loves being part of something bigger than himself: “You get that here, not just on the calls because you are possibly saving someone’s life or their home, but also how much the fire company is involved in the community — whether it’s something as simple as escorting athletic teams coming back after they’ve won a championship, giving them a nice escort with our lights and sirens, or if there is a family in need that needs a blood drive or a spaghetti dinner to help someone pay medical bills.”
Many volunteer fire departments do that and much more, especially if there is a fire hall attached.
“Quite frankly, I think one of the biggest things our fire department contributes to the community is a place where families grow, in that you just meet so many people who had a bridal shower, baby shower, wedding, graduation parties or family functions here,” Mr. Mikus said.
The original membership here consisted of 170 men and a ladies’ auxiliary, with 200 members — back then women weren’t “allowed” to be firemen, but their service was critical in coordinating events to support the company. Today, there are 28 active members serving the same area, which has grown robustly in population in the past two decades.
This decline in staffing is happening all across Pennsylvania. According to data maintained by the Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Services Institute, the number of active volunteer firefighters has dropped from 300,000 in the mid-1970s to just under 38,000 in 2018.
Mr. Mikus said there certainly has not been an increase in recent years. “A lot of people drive past here and think there is always someone in the hall for a callor that we are paid — neither is true. People have families and lives and full time jobs, yet we provide an essential service that is run solely on people stepping up. Firefighting is that one municipal service that relies solely on volunteers to fulfill its duties,” he said.
When the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment happened last month, most of the dozens of fire companies that responded, from both eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, were staffed by volunteers unaware how dangerous the burning chemicals were.
Mr. Mikus offers a grim reminder that cancer is the leading cause of death among firefighters, “which is why, over time, fire departments have come to learn that as soon as you come back from a call — a lot of times it’s a fire, could be something like that happened in East Palestine — you’re trained to wash your gear.”
Chuck Lazzini, a fellow volunteer with Mr. Mikus, shrugs: “Showing up and being here is our call to duty.”
Mr. Lazzini is a legacy firefighter: His grandfather was one of the first volunteers here, when the company was just up the road and only had a single engine. “So my family has been involved for as long as this place has been here, since the ’30s,” he said. “My grandfather was the chief for several years, and my father’s been involved for probably over 50 years. And my brother is the current chief and has
been doing this since he was 14 years old.”
Both Mr. Mikus and Mr. Lazzini hold full-time jobs in addition to what sometimes becomes a second full-time job, especially with the training required to serve.
“Just to become a firefighter, to go through just the basic training, it’s over 160 hours of training. And that is just the basics,” said Mr. Mikus.
“On average, I probably put about 50 to 60 hours every single year into training, in addition to the fire calls and the events that we have and participate in. It’s very time-consuming and it is tough. It is very tough. People’s lives are very busy, and you hear a lot of people say, ‘I’d love to join, and I just don’t have the time.’”
Mr. Lazzini said their district is pretty large, so they are able to recruit a decent number of people, “but other communities, they struggle to recruit people.”
Over in Export, in Westmoreland County, volunteer firefighters Stephen Opsitnick, Steve Wripp, David Silvis and Jarom Hensley are sitting at the table of their fire hall just off the Old William Penn Highway.
At 33, Mr. Silvis is the fire chief — a position he was destined for. “My dad was a volunteer fireman. He started in 1986, and it was just something I was born into, and I followed in his footsteps,” he said.
He explains his company serves more than just Export: “Currently we serve this borough, Murrysville municipality, Delmont Borough, Salem Township, Penn Township, Upper Burrell Township, Washington Township,” he said.
Mr. Silvis said they can always use more volunteers: “I don’t think there’s anybody out there that can say that they’re at a comfortable level. Volunteers
are always needed, not only for just driving a firetruck — pumping a firetruck, being able to fight the fire or do the extrication of a vehicle accident, medical calls, fundraising, things of that nature. There’s a place for everybody. So, it’s not just going in and fighting fire. There’s a bunch of other things that we really need. Raising money is always a challenge; we need support to make sure our rescue equipment doesn’t fail.”
For centuries Americans have been hailed for their robust enthusiasm for civic engagement, service and just plain joining and forming associations to support their communities. Alexis de Tocqueville observed with awe in 1832, following a nine month visit to the United States, our genius for forming volunteer associations of all types that enhanced our professional, social, economic and political well-being.
“When people share a common purpose, the community thrives more, and as individuals we thrive more, our lives are more enriched. It makes us better citizens and better people,” said Mr. Mikus.
That is why he and Mr. Silvis — and all of the others — are worried about the changes in attitudes toward volunteerism. “It’s definitely declining. We don’t ask anybody to take away from their family or take away from their work when they volunteer,” he said.
None of them were certain how this decline in volunteerism can be fixed — and they know they can’t force people to donate either. They just know how important it is that they are there when duty calls.