New volunteers always welcome at rural fire departments

Rural fire departments around the area are coming up with some creative ways to attract the next generation of volunteer First Responders.

Each day, volunteer firefighters in small communities can be the difference between life and death as they put out fires, provide medical care and rush people to the hospital.

They are on call day and night, and are prepared to respond at a moment’s notice all without pay.

The majority of volunteers are over 40 years old and working jobs in other cities, which makes day time calls difficult.

"During the day especially it’s tough. We rely a lot on mutual aid with other departments," said Pleasant Dale Fire Chief Nick Dankers

The smaller the community, the greater the need for volunteers.

These rural departments are turning their attention to the next generation of volunteers, hoping to get some fresh legs through the door.

"Some of our members are getting a little bit older and it’s nice to have those young ones come in with the strong backs that can really help out," said Cortland Assistant Chief Adam German.

The Cortland Explorers Youth Program has helped foster an interest for firefighting in area youth.

"We’ve taken the approach to where we cater to them a little bit more. We don’t dock them if they miss a training. We encourage as much training as we can get," said German.

German joined the Cortland department 9 years ago. When he started there were 30 members. Over the years it dropped to as low as 14.

Thanks to the explorers program, there has been a noticeable increase in activity.

"We have a group of kids aged 14 all the way to 18 that basically become a part of our department. They help us clean the station, they’ll help us on our fundraiser and they are even allowed, with their parents permission, to go on calls with us," said German.

In Pleasant Dale, day time calls are a struggle, and they often rely on a group of local farmers to pick up the slack.

"We’re trying to get the new people, the people who haven’t been associated with fire departments. Those are the people that we are trying to bring in. We’re trying to get the fire within them to say hey, this is your community, this is where you live at. These are the people you see every day," said Pleasant Dale Truck Captain Cody Rohrig.

Officials from both departments say there is always room for more volunteers.

If interested, reach out to them on Facebook or go in for a walk through to see if its the right fit for you.