Volunteers fill a much needed role

Did you know that nearly 70 percent of all firefighters are volunteer? Clay County Fire and Rescue is primar-ily a volunteer department. That means that these members do not get paid to spend their time serving our community.

Being a volunteer firefighter is not a job to us, it is a passion and a commitment to our community that we have gladly made when we joined the department. Our volunteer members fill a much needed role in the community. We protect the lives and property of our neighbors during their most vulnerable times.

The volunteer department members have made the commitment and choice to respond to calls when others are in need. Yes, that also means that at any given time, even if it is 3 a.m. and that pager goes off, we will respond and be there to help in your time of need.

Have you ever been in a restaurant and heard someone’s radio go off? Many times, these volunteer members will have just gotten sat down to eat a meal with fam- ily and get paged out to an emergency call. We choose to dedicate our time to serving our community and that is why when you call, we will be there to assist you in any way possible.

Some may have the misconception that once the fire is out and the fire apparatus is returned to the station, that our job is done. This is not quiet how the call ends for us. Once a fire scene is clear, no matter how exhausted we may be from wearing heavy gear, dragging hoses around and working in emergency mode for hours, we must still return the truck to the way it was before that fire.

This means that hose lines must be washed, laid out to dry and new hose has to be placed back on the truck. Gear and equipment must be checked to ensure that it is ready for the next call. We cannot forget about one of the most important items, the air cylinders must be refilled and placed back on the truck in their proper place.

While fire calls make up a fraction of our call volume, we also run other types of calls. We are trained to respond to fire, rescue, search and medical calls. Our members who are trained in these areas, must keep their training hours up to date yearly. In fact, all members of Clay County Fire and Rescue are required to have a minimum of at least 60 training hours a year.

Now that we have discussed a little bit more about what we as volunteer members do, you may be thinking, why are you a volunteer again? Well, I will personally tell you that being a member of a volunteer department have several benefits. One of the most amazing benefits is that you automatically gain an extended family. The term “brotherhood or sisterhood” are used in the firehouse and holds such a strong meaning to many of us.

When a member and their family needs something, we are always willing to pitch in and help. Being able to save a life is more overwhelming than it is explainable. It is a sense of pride and accomplishment that no training could ever prepare you for. The feeling that we get from being able to help others makes all of the other stuff well worth it at the end of the day.

We have made a commitment to train to be better than we were before. We have made the choice to answer that call, even if the timing is not convenient. We know that on the other side of that dispatchers phone line is a member of our community who is in need of our assistance.