Volunteer Firefighters a Need NOT a Want for Rural Fire Districts

NFPA estimates there were approximately 1,160,450 local firefighters in the U.S. in 2015. Of the total number of firefighters 345,600 (30%) were career firefighters and 814,850 (70%) were volunteer firefighters. Volunteer firefighters are the key to fire service and EMS in smaller 

In the LMRFD recruiting volunteers is not the priority, recruiting full time firefighters isn't the priority either. I've never seen an advertisement for volunteers or any recruiting from fire and EMS training schools like other districts. 

I was sad to see Chief Eder leave the NACFD. Chief Eder was more proactive about training and firefighter safety than other chiefs, especially for the volunteers. Chief Eder was a volunteer firefighter, his father was volunteer firefighter, and his grandfather was a volunteer firefighter.

He saw the value of volunteers who not only saved the district money, they provided manpower when needed providing additional support and safety for firefighters. In rural fire districts manpower is the most important factor. When an RV exploded in fire causing a womans death in the LMRFD, one firefighter showed up.  

Nation wide 7 out of 10 firefighters are volunteers. This is especially true in smaller communities like Dolan Springs, Chloride, White Hills, and Meadview. I'm afraid nothing will change in the LMRFD until we have a different fire chief. A chief who understands the majority of calls are EMS and the need for volunteer first responders to be trained in EMS and not required to be a firefighter. 

In the city firefighters have several things on their side, support services, response times, hydrants for water supply, and manpower. In rural fire districts response times are long and water is supplied by water tenders, formerly called tankers. It takes time equipment and manpower to move thousands of gallons of water to the fire. 

What training did your fire district provide their volunteers?

This is my training provided by NACFD since September 2017... 

Standard First Aid/CPR/AED

Nationally Certified Emergency Medical Responder

Wildland Fire Orientation

S-110 Basic Wildland Fire Orientation 

Incident Command System I-100 

National Incident Management System N-700

Hazardous Materials First Responder-Operations

Hazardous Materials First Responder-Awareness

S-130 Firefighter Training Classroom

S-130 Firefighter Training Field/Practical

Type 6 Engine Operations

Exterior Structural Firefighting

District Orientation/Safety

EVOC Emergency Vehicle Operation

Incident Rehab 2 Water Tender Operations

Emergency Communications

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