Imagine for a moment that you call 9-1-1 for the fire department and no one shows up. The volunteer fire service, which dates back to Ben Franklin, is slowly disappearing like the horse drawn fire truck.
In a community where we pride ourselves on staying connected and knowing our neighbors, the fire department has always been that social and civic point of contact for our citizens. But as incidents increase and volunteers fade, the volunteer fire service could become as rare as a firehouse Dalmatian.
“People are running out of free time”, said Fire Chief Roger Bennett and according to a 2004 report by the NVFC that’s the number one factor.
Blame it on our society: longer commutes, year round sport activities, factories or shops that won’t allow volunteers to leave in the middle of a workday. Blame it on state mandated training requirements that have increased heavily since 9/11. Blame it on people who live in the community and don’t realize the department is strictly men and women willing to volunteer and there aren’t people at the station 24/7. The fact remains that the fire department could use more hands.
“Years ago the fire department was made up of local business owners and farmers who could leave for an emergency. Today more people travel out of town for work. Even if it’s just to Ft Wayne, it’s too far for them to respond”, said one firefighter.
As more people commute to these cities and towns for work, you can imagine how few of these volunteers are available during the daytime hours.
Two critical accidents during the afternoon hours in June, one being a fatality, had a total of two firefighters at one incident and three at another. The department’s protocol calls for two trucks to respond to accidents and to have 4 to 5 people in each truck. On a structure fire the amount of apparatus and people needed to make it as safe as possible triples.
VOLUNTEERING SAVES YOU MONEY
The economic consequences are obvious, because as more volunteers disappear from the fire service, towns are forced to hire career firefighters in place of volunteers. Of the 30,000 fire departments in the U.S., roughly 2/3rds are volunteer protecting 40% of the population.
A study conducted by the Public Safety and Environmental Protection Institute and found that it would cost U.S. citizens $37.2 billion annually if they had to replace all volunteers with career staffing.
The study went on to say that the average figure that can be used for a career firefighter’s salary and benefits is $71,500 per year. This obviously varies by area of the country, but it’s a figure that the town of Churubusco or Smith Township could not afford.
“To cover costs like these would require a raise in property taxes and in this day and age that’s not going to happen”, said Smith Twp. Trustee Patty Amber. “Even if we considered a fire territory, there isn’t enough assessed evaluation to create a career department” Amber went on to say.
BENEFITS OF BEING A VOLUNTEER
Most firefighters are very humble when called a “hero” because they’re just doing their job, but they all gain great satisfaction knowing their hard work helped someone else in a time of need. It could be as simple as helping someone up from the ground after a nasty fall, to saving a home from total fire destruction. No matter the incident, your help made a difference in someone’s life.
On top of the intangible benefits there are life skills and financial benefits to being a firefighter. Some of these include:
- CPR certification – This could help you advance in your career
- Cell phone discounts – Many of the major carriers offer some sort of discount
- Hotel room discounts – Some major hotel chains will offer discounts
- Free admission – You can attend events, festivals and at times movies for little or no cost
- Tax breaks – It’s possible to write off or claim items on your taxes
I WOULD LIKE TO HELP
Deciding to be a volunteer isn’t something you should take lightly and the fire department has a list of questions to ask yourself before you decide to apply.
1.) Do I have enough time?
2.) Am I willing to go out in extreme weather, odd hours and get dirty?
3.) Will my family be supportive?
4.) Do I have the ability to cope with emergencies?
5.) Can I physically do the job?
There are two main requirements to apply for a position
1.) Must be 18 years of age or older
2.) Live within the coverage area which is roughly 5-6 miles in either direction from downtown
Applications can be picked up from the fire station on Tuesday evenings after 7:00 P.M. or downloaded from the Churubusco Fire Department website.






















































