In the middle of the night.
During a family event.
While tackling a major project at work.
At the most inconvenient times, the alarms sound.
Yet, no matter when those alarms do sound, volunteer first responders answer the calls, sacrificing their own priorities, time, money — even their personal safety — to rush to the aid of others.

Photo courtesy of Washington Fire Department
The reasons they volunteer are as varied as the emergencies they are called to. Some have an innate passion for firefighting. Others, like Cisne’s Josh Smith, say firefighting is in their DNA. Some simply believe it is the right thing to do. Without exception, however, these men and women want to make a difference.
“Our volunteers simply want to help. They want to belong to something that is helping our community,” explains Kinmundy-Alma Fire Department Chief Kevin Day, a second-generation volunteer.
Washington Fire Chief Tyler Gee says being a volunteer firefighter is about caring for others. “I know it sounds cliche, but these are people who have a desire to help out the community. [They] have a drive to help people out during their worst times and to just be there for them.”
Across the state, volunteers respond to fires, traffic accidents, medical emergencies and countless other events, stepping — or more appropriately, running — into situations that most avoid. “I like to remind people that every time you’re running away from a building or situation, we’re running in,” Day says.
Gee adds, “The nature of volunteer fire service is that you don’t know what kind of call you’re going to get at any given moment.”
These volunteers do it out of a sense of community. “My parents instilled in me a sense that you help others. If somebody needed help, you went and helped them. You didn’t ask for anything in return, you just helped,” Day explains.
“Some people do it [in] a community sense; they see it as a duty,” explains Smith, a fourth-generation volunteer firefighter who directs the 35-member Bedford Township Fire Department in Wayne County. “Then, there are other people who feel like they were born to be a firefighter.”
A crisis
These fire chiefs say there is a real need for volunteers in departments across the state, especially for those willing to obtain an emergency medical responder or emergency medical technician certification. Smith says being part of a medical response team can be especially challenging.
“It becomes very personal,” he says. “There can be lasting traumas that stick with you, and the last thing you want to see is someone you know in one of those situations. Being able to go and fight a structure fire, a field fire, even a car fire, is not as personal as seeing somebody in their last moments.”

Photo courtesy of Kinmundy-Alma Fire Department
Day says some studies have shown that the average tenure of volunteer medical responders is about five years. “The blame basically lies in that you are treating people that you know and grew up with. … In a rural setting, you know everybody, and you know everybody’s mother and father. It’s hard treating those you know. It’s easier in the city when you pick up someone who is sick or has been in an accident, [because] you don’t know them.”
But, Smith adds, the camaraderie and satisfaction that comes with giving aid is significant. “Nine times out of 10, people are just so thankful that you [are] there as a first responder. Sometimes all you can do is take vitals and assure someone that an ambulance is on the way. Those moments [with] a paramedic or someone on the scene are vital to patient care. They’re so thankful, and people know that you did everything you could to save their possessions or be with a family member when they needed it the most,” he says.
Those needs are often unexpected, but volunteer firefighters and first responders are prepared for catastrophic events, and residents expect help, says Cheri Breneman, administrator of the Illinois Association of Fire Protection Districts. “When you call 911, you want someone to be there.”
Terry Ford, president of the Illinois Firefighters Association (IFA), says there are approximately 1,200 fire departments in the state, and 80% of them are staffed mostly by volunteers. “It’s extremely hard to figure out exactly how many volunteers we have, because the turnover is great,” he explains. “A fire department might have 10 volunteers today and two tomorrow. … It is always changing, but we estimate that there probably are 18,000-20,000 volunteers in the state.
“With the majority of fire departments being volunteer,” he continues, “it is important to have people to staff those stations. When you look at the rural areas, you’re looking at almost 100% volunteer departments, so having the volunteers there is vitally important to keeping your community safe.”
Ford says without volunteers, many rural areas would be forced to rely on full-time departments from larger — and more distant — communities. “That would leave areas unprotected, and it would take firefighters as much as five or six times longer to respond to an emergency or a fire,” he explains, adding as a rule of thumb, fires double in intensity every three minutes, so every extra second counts.

Photo courtesy of Kinmundy-Alma Fire Department
The trouble is response times are taking longer with fewer firefighters, because many departments have vacancies that they are desperate to fill. “It’s going to become very critical, very shortly,” Kevin Schott, an IFA board member, told the Chicago Tribune in a 2023 article. “Public safety is going to be impacted.”
The decline in volunteers is not just a problem in Illinois. The National Fire Protection Association reports that the ratio of fire department volunteers to 1,000 residents dropped 25% from 1995 to 2020. Reasons for the decline, which Breneman called “a crisis,” are numerous.
Challenges facing rural departments
“That sense of volunteerism from years ago is gone today … you don’t see it as much. It’s hurting small fire departments,” Day says. Other issues range from increased family responsibilities to reduced workplace flexibility.
“Being a volunteer firefighter does take a lot of time, and it takes time away from your family,” Ford adds. “There are a lot of people who want to volunteer, [but] they get in and then find out that they just don’t have the time. That leads to a lot of turnover.”
“You’re giving of yourself, your time, your fuel,” Day explains. “Some departments don’t supply everything you need. … With many of the newer state regulations, it’s harder for volunteers to stay trained, too. It’s tough to find time to train, to respond to calls and to be involved with family.”
“It takes a lot of time and dedication,” adds Gee, who leads a combination department with all-volunteer firefighters and full-time advanced life support paramedics just east of Peoria. “We train weekly, we go through state certification, and we have to make sure we have the training and skills to serve.”
Challenges facing rural departments
“We all are volunteers, but 99% of us have day jobs,” Day says of his Marion County volunteers, “So, during the day, departments are hurting for help.” He says many employers are not willing to allow staff members to leave everything during a shift to answer an emergency call. “You can’t hardly blame them; they’re paying a person to do a job at a good wage.”
He also explains that in many small communities, such as those in his district, there are few employers, so department personnel work outside the area, putting them farther from the fire station and incidents.
Other challenges plague rural volunteer departments, impacting not only the volunteers but also fire protection efforts. Smith says his district is nearly 250 square miles, meaning the department has a lot of ground to cover. In some cases, volunteer EMTs and EMRs fill the gaps left when ambulance services withdraw from rural areas, stretching volunteers even thinner.
Geography is tough, Day agrees. “Our district is 176 square miles. From our station to one corner of the district, it is 15 miles by road, and that might be 30-plus miles from the nearest hospital. For cardiac cases that go to a particular hospital, the distance can be as much as 50 miles.”
The greater distances mean both longer response times and increased fuel costs, both for departments and for their volunteers, who may drive their own vehicles to calls.
The equipment needs of rural departments can be troublesome, too. The lack of hydrants in most rural areas means fire vehicles must include tanker and tender trucks — expensive vehicles that strain budgets in areas where tax revenue is already lower than urban areas.
Also, departments are required to discard some equipment after specified lengths of service, regardless of usage. That could mean items such as breathing apparatus must be replaced even if they have been used just a few dozen times. Day, who works full-time in fire equipment sales, says air packs run as much as $10,000 each.
“Perhaps firefighters in major cities have equipment that wears out,” he says. “Ours does not wear out; it ages out.”
Help wanted
Departments across the state are constantly looking for new volunteers, using everything from roadside signs to open house events to attract interest. Ford says they are looking for all types of people.
“Most people think volunteer firefighters have to be young, aggressive males, but that’s just not the case,” explains Ford. “It’s an everybody-can-join type of situation. Just because you’re older or you’re female or you have a disability doesn’t mean you cannot be a volunteer firefighter. There are all kinds of opportunities in the volunteer fire service.”
He says the job is tough, but the rewards are plentiful.
“I started out as a volunteer firefighter over 50 years ago,” Ford recalls. “It is gratifying to go in, help people and see that you did something to help on the worst day of someone’s life, to know that you did something for them, and maybe made the day a little bit better.”
Breneman says local volunteer fire departments need support. “If you want to make a difference [in] your community, go visit your local fire department and see how they can use you,” she says.