So, why would you want to be a firefighter?  For that matter, why would you want to volunteer your time to be a firefighter?  Firefighting is strenuous, dangerous, and potentially deadly work that often involves tragedies and stressful situations for both those who call for help and us as first responders.  Thankfully we have people out there that are willing to step forward and take on these challenges and dangers in service of others.  There are both career and volunteer firefighters across the nation.  You may be surprised to know that the vast majority of U.S. Firefighters are volunteers.  So, that brings on another question to answer.  What if volunteer firefighters didn’t volunteer?  If that were to be an issue, it would be astronomically more expensive for local governments to provide fire protection service because they would have to resort to paying for all the firefighters needed to sufficiently staff apparatus.  And in some cases, fire protection could not be offered which would lead to sky rocketing insurance premiums.  In Combination Fire Departments such as ours, we have a balance of paid and volunteer members which has lower operating costs than an all paid department but still better staffing than an all volunteer one.  It is a fact that the rate of new volunteers coming forth to join fire departments has steadily declined over the recent years across the nation.  Things that have attributed to this trend include economic, family, and even generational changes to name a few.  One step our department has taken in response to these changes is the staffing of a paid firefighter every day of the week during the time that most people including our volunteer members may be away at their day jobs.  While these paid members certainly make a huge difference in our response times and overall ability to respond, they can’t be looked at as a full solution to manpower for us.  One firefighter is limited in what they can do on an emergency scene depending on the severity.  So, it is crucial for us to continue to have volunteers regardless of having paid staff during the day.  Even with new volunteer rates down, we can confidently say that our department has and is seeking and taking measures to combat this in order to attract, train, and retain new volunteer members to sustain adequate staffing.  Through these measures, our department has continued to sustain a strong membership of dedicated people. 

With that said, we are continuously in search and need of new members.  Firefighting is a team based job and it takes a team of personnel to accomplish a job safely.  An average structure fire requires a department to have over 20 personnel on scene to effectively and safely put the fire out.  That can be very taxing to our resources and available manpower.  Again, that is why we need people, perhaps like YOU to volunteer.  Remember, you are not volunteering for us.  You are volunteering with us, for your community!  It is a great calling to help others in their time of need and to potentially save a life.  That is what overshadows the “bad” that can come with this job.  You will find that firefighting is a camaraderie of great people.  Firefighters are family to each other and it is a relationship you will develop that is unlike any other.  Additional advantages of being a volunteer firefighter are the educational and employment opportunities it opens up for you.  There are few places you can get free education that can lead to a job.  A volunteer fire department is actually one of those places.  All training that leads to certification is free to you through the department.  Grants for higher education in college are also available through the fire service.  Unlike volunteer firefighters, career firefighters are most often required to be fully certified in many areas related to the job.  But if becoming a career firefighter is an idea of yours, being a volunteer can be greatly helpful.  You will gain valuable knowledge and experience and can highly increase your chances of becoming a career firefighter.  In fact the Advance Fire Department has several members who are career firefighters in other cities such as nearby Charlotte and Winston-Salem and several who are career EMTs or Paramedics.  So, now answer that question we first asked and remember this; There is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer.