The DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department is seeking volunteer firefighters to help strengthen its numbers at all of the county’s fire stations.
DeKalb County Fire Chief Donny Green said currently, the department has 84 volunteers to man 12 fire stations. Green said in his opinion, that is not enough.
“You know, their availability has to do with our dependency on how well we can respond with the adequate number of staffing,” Green said. “So, we are always needing more volunteers, and that’s something that we work on throughout the year.”
Green said he would like to increase the number of firefighters to 120. Green said he will soon have to find even more volunteer firefighters, as the county is planning to build a public safety building near the Center Hill Dam that will include an additional fire station.
“We are gonna have to have more volunteers to staff that station, so as we are recruiting and we are meeting our goals, there are also things that are happening that are going to place a greater demand on our recruiting efforts,” Green said.
Green said the department is made up of all volunteers, so the need for volunteer firefighters has always been there. Green said stricter training requirements for volunteer firefighters and less availability due to the workforce have made it a challenge to recruit volunteer firefighters.
“A lot of our people who used to work here in town now work out of town,” Green said. “And now, you know, it seems like people have more obligations and some other competing priorities for their time.”
Green said there are no requirements to be a volunteer firefighter in DeKalb County. Green said being a volunteer firefighter can be rewarding.
“The main thing that I would tell people that you are gonna get out of this is just the satisfaction of providing service to your community, and helping others when they are having a bad day and trying to make it better,” Green said. “If you have that mentality, you will enjoy it. If you are in it for other reasons, you probably won’t enjoy it.”
Green said a fire department can have the best equipment in the world, but without firefighters, the equipment is useless. Green said if interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter to call the DeKalb County Fire Department. Green said he welcomes everyone.
