The rural volunteer firefighters in Seminole County are in serious need of more able-bodied men and women that can be available when needed. This includes the fire departments in Konawa, Bowlegs, Sasakwa, Strother, Cromwell and Maud.

Konawa Fire Chief Tim Coffey admits there is little or no real compensation available, and certainly nowhere near what they deserve for what they do. He is aware that firefighting is not for everybody, but for those that are called, the satisfaction of helping protect your friend’s and neighbor’s (and possibly your own) valuable property and possibly saving lives is the most important reward.

Coffey notes that the lower number of volunteers stepping up is compounded by the fact that many of the current long-time volunteers are approaching retirement. He points out that these are some of the most experienced firefighters in the departments, and a valuable asset in on-thejob training of new volunteers in the finer points of fire suppression. In the next few years almost half of the current Konawa department will be eligible for retirement, Coffey says, and they desperately need replacements. The other departments are facing the same dilemma.

Another problem plaguing the volunteer departments in rural areas is a limited number of job opportunity in the smaller communities. This means many if not most of the eligible and most able potential firefighters work out of town and are unavailable to respond to a call, especially during the weekday hours when most fires occur.

Coffey recalls having enough volunteers in Konawa to man three trucks when they received a call, but now he is challenged to get two trucks out. This is a problem all of the local fire stations face, which has forced them to depend more and more on “mutual aid.” This means they call for help from neighboring departments when they are short-handed, and they will go to the aid of these same departments when they are called. Coffey states they are glad they are able to help each other, but this leaves their own community vulnerable when they are working out of town.

This is not just a local problem. Volunteer departments across the state and the nation are struggling to fill their ranks and losing their most experienced volunteers to retirement.

In a study released in September 2022 the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reported there was an estimated 1,041,200 career and volunteer firefighters serving 29,452 fire departments in the United States in 2020. Of this number, only 18 percent were all-career or mostly-career.

There were 364,300 career firefighters (35 percent) in 2020, representing an increase of 2 percent from the previous year. However, there were only 676,900 (65 percent) volunteer firefighters, representing a 6 percent decrease from the previous year, and the lowest number of volunteer firefighters reported over the years. Most of the drop in the number of volunteer firefighters occurred in the smallest communities (population below 25,000).

Most volunteer firefighters (95 percent) serve in departments that protect fewer than 25,000 people. Approximately half (48 percent) of the volunteer firefighters are with small, rural departments that protect fewer than 2,500 people.

Adding an even bigger strain to these small departments, from 1980 to 2019, local fire protection service expenditures (adjusted for the dollar value in 2019) tripled.

Coffey urges anyone that has ever thought about becoming a volunteer to please contact the closest fire department to find out how they can become a part of the volunteer team whenever they are available. At least give it a try. It might not pay much, but it could be the most rewarding thing you’ve ever done.