Where I live (small town), the firefighters are volunteers. They are not paid nor do they receive benefits. They rely on a subscription paid by individual homeowners (voluntary) and various fundraisers including spaghetti dinners and a joint fair with other nearby municipal firefighting companies every year.
Any small town which still has a paid fire company is foolish. I’m not even sure large cities need these paid companies with a firehouse on every corner.
I wouldn’t lump volunteer firefighters in with the ‘government employee’ lot. The volunteers see more live action!