Your local fire company needs you
You have probably heard this story: It’s 1:52 a.m., and all around town, cell phones start to beep. It’s a dispatch from the county’s 911 call center, paging the few dozen volunteers at your local fire company. Firefighters throw on clothes, slide on some shoes, and are out the door heading to the fire station in a matter of seconds.
It could be a vehicle crash, it could be a fire, a gas leak, a stuck elevator, someone in cardiac arrest, or just some burnt toast setting off a smoke detector. Whatever the call, someone — most likely a handful of volunteers — hastens to assist.
Sometimes, it really is just like that.
But more often than not, when you see a fire engine hustling down the road, those firefighters were probably doing the same thing you were doing five minutes ago. They dropped their work to run to the station. They left their kid’s soccer match. They got up from Sunday dinner with the family. They abruptly ended a phone call.
That is because over 90% of all fire stations in Pennsylvania are staffed entirely by volunteers. Unless you live in a major city, there is a very good chance that every firefighter at your local fire station is a volunteer.
This is how it has been for hundreds of years going back to when Ben Franklin created the first volunteer fire company in the United States. For centuries we have relied on our neighbors to drop what they were doing to go help others. And for centuries, it has worked.
But over the last few decades volunteerism has plunged more than 90% from a high of over 350,000 firefighters across Pennsylvania in the 1970s to 30,000 today. Imagine any business trying to do the same job with only 10% of its workforce.
A typical fire engine or ladder truck is designed to carry six to eight firefighters. Today, many companies have trouble getting three people to show up for a call.
The money is tight, too. If you go to a fund raiser at your local fire company, do not be surprised if most of the attendees are members of the fire company or their families. The same members that volunteer their time put their own money into the company.
There are a lot of theories about why so few people volunteer these days. Some blame it on a shift in our society, a deepening selfishness or a lack of personal responsibility. But I do not think that is the case. I believe in the good nature of humans, of the importance we all place on our communities and the lengths we will go to protect them.
We are a society that values volunteerism, and our society thrives because of it.
I think the problem is awareness. Fire companies appear to function like any other first responders. They have a high level of organization and professionalism. The scope of the jobs fire companies do and the equipment they use is massive, and they are ready to respond 24 hours a day. We have always viewed firefighters as essential, so it is natural that we have come to think of firefighting as a career, a function of our government.
But in reality, it is usually another community service opportunity.
During his State of the Union Address in 2002 — just a few months after 9/11 — President George W. Bush called upon all Americans to dedicate at least 4,000 hours to service over our lifetimes.
The people who serve at fire companies come from all walks of life, from all kinds of professions, and from every age bracket, all bound together by the mission of saving lives and protecting property. The camaraderie and the sense of pride from being of service are as good as it gets.
If you are looking for ways to serve your community, there are very few that are as interesting, challenging, or rewarding as firefighting. The training alone will have you doing things you never imagined were possible and will prepare you to handle situations that most people will never experience while using what is unquestionably some of the coolest equipment around.
Stop by your local fire company and ask about opportunities, attend a fund raiser, chip in during their fundraising campaign.
If not you, then who?