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Comment by Clarksburg Fire Department on January 24, 2012 at 3:41pm

We are in Southeast Indiana, cover just over 100 square miles with 7 trucks and 20 guys.  Mostly rural, but there is a private lake community, total population 5,000 to 7,000 according to the season.

Comment by Wilbur Garrison on August 23, 2011 at 10:58pm

Hey mike i feal u me an my dept. Cover an area of 846 square miles with 6 trucks that range 46 years apart i dnt feal required traing to volunteers is rite all my guys work at least 40 hours a week and on top of that in our free time we are doing mantiaincense at the fire house

Comment by Jeff Taylor on August 23, 2011 at 10:25am

Does anyone have any thoughts as to the bias of the AFG towards small volunteer departments? We cover aa 156 sq. mi. area with 4 pieces of apparatus that avg. 15 years old. It seems to me that requiring (or at least recommending) 100% FFI and FFII certification is a little unreasonable for a volunteer organization. The 200 hours required for this certification is a lot to ask of people that are volunteering. What about the members that don't want to go into a burning building? You have members that want to pump engines, work MVAs, and be support for the interior attack teams, are they just as valuable to your organization? Somebody has to perform these tasks, do they need to be certified to do it? I don't think so. What are your thoughts?

Comment by Tiffany Haller on July 18, 2011 at 11:38pm

It will be interesting to see what the winter brings. I've seen rescues done in sleds, and since we are landlocked and can only get in by boat or plane, we've gone days without access to our Medi-vac planes. Looking forward to the challenges that the village life brings.

Comment by Mike Branum on July 18, 2011 at 7:00pm

Yup. Unless you've been there, you really don't understand, lmao! Beautiful place, interesting people, unique challenges, but WAY too friggin' cold! : )
I am glad to be back in the desert, but I wouldn't trade my Alaskan experiences for a million bucks.

Comment by Tiffany Haller on July 18, 2011 at 3:17pm

Thanks Mike! I always get asked "Why do you volunteer?" My answer, Why wouldn't you?? In these small towns, that is the only way to keep them up and running. My husband is our Fire Chief, and we currently have no police officer in town. He started going on police calls because there was no one else to do it. Sometimes you just gotta step up to the plate and do what needs to be done.

Comment by Mike Branum on July 18, 2011 at 1:36pm

Tiffany, as a flight nurse based out of Fairbanks for two years (and working for the State of Alaska EMS Unit for three years before that), I have visited many of Alaska's remote villages. Kudos to you and your fellow bush responders for providing a vital service in some of the toughest conditions on the planet!

Comment by Brandon on July 14, 2011 at 2:07pm

Hi, I currently serve on 2 volunteer fire depts in rural Saskatchewan. My hometowns population is about 800. We currently have 1 engine and 1 rescue with 16 volunteer members. The town I currently live in has a population of approx 1300 and has a dept with 20 members, 2 engines and a rescue. The 2 towns are only 16km apart so I am able to stay active with both depts.

Comment by Tiffany Haller on July 14, 2011 at 1:53pm

Hi, I'm Tiffany from a small fishing village in rural Alaska. Our winter population is roughly 280, maybe 350 during the summer months. We have 1 fire truck, 1 ambulance and 1 rescue truck. We only have about 15 active volunteers in our department. Some do both EMT and Fire.

Comment by Lee Ashby, Jr. on July 13, 2011 at 6:03pm

I would like to correct a typo from my first post, the square miles is actually 164. I was trying to type 140 and the one did not get typed...oppss, sorry!

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