I believe volunteer fire departments are ideal for small towns where most of the residents live and work locally, and most of the businesses are owned by local residents. That's the type of place where people see the value of volunteering up close.
In my area, local fire departments have had an increasingly difficult time attracting volunteers. Part of this may be a younger generation that is more selfish than their parents and grandparents, but what is really driving this is that more and more people living in these towns are commuting to jobs miles away ... and most local businesses are owned by people who live miles away, too.
So on a typical day there simply aren't a lot of local residents who can even respond to a fire alarm ... and people who commute long distances for work just don't have the time and energy to volunteer at night.
Insurance companies rate neighborhoods based on the level of fire service. This is called your ISO and it has a direct influence on insurance rates. The ISO takes into consideration the number and availability of assets and water supply. So if your roof or boiler needs to replaced your insurance rate will be higher. Same as with your ISO and they take into consideration the average time your local fire company responds to their calls. So having a robust fire department saves everyone money in the long run.
One last thing and I’m not again responding o anyone in particular. In my fire district I mentioned up thread that we cover a portion of the PA turnpike. We have the honor of responding to some very nasty calls on that roadway.
To give an example of just what it can be like we had a call not too long ago where a patient was seriously injured, I mean I really don’t know how the patient survived. This was bad.
We have not heard one word from family or friends for our efforts. The location and scope of the call was big, we did patient rescue and coordinated/manned two (2) landing zones for flight. While I’m both happy to provide the service and wish nothing but complete healing for the patient, for all of my time and efforts for a 3 hour call not a word of thanks but I did have several sleepless nights following the incident. So maybe that’s my thanks?