Two trends involving rural lifestyles are colliding head-on in the Northland.
On one hand, demand for emergency service is on the rise in the towns and villages outside Duluth-Superior. After all, the number of people choosing to live away from the urban centers is on the rise.
On the other hand, the number of people ready and trained to handle those emergencies is on the decline.
And fire officials throughout Douglas County are mounting an effort to turn the trend around. They're working to recruit anyone interested in helping their neighbors in a crisis.
"It's one of those things: How many coats do I have on the wall, and how many people do I really have to wear them?" said Keith Kesler, fire chief of the Brule Volunteer Fire Department and Douglas County's emergency manager. "I've got a few more coats there with names, where I haven't seen people for a while."
Kesler lays the blame for the drop in volunteers on changing lifestyles.
"Most families today have to have two incomes, meaning both mom and dad work," Kesler said. "We've got the needs of the family, needs of the children. There's more after-school activities and summertime activities that take away spare time."
While more people are living in rural areas served by volunteer fire departments, more people are traveling greater distances to work, which cuts the amount of time people have to volunteer, Kesler said.
For example, according to the 2000 census, Gordon, Wis., saw a 17 percent population growth as people moved out of the Duluth-Superior area. Wascott, Wis., grew 33 percent during the 1990s. The average drive to work for these residents rose 10 percent to 20 percent from 1990, to between 36 and 48 minutes.
Rogers said St. Louis County volunteer departments are experiencing the same problems as Douglas County departments with declining numbers of volunteers.
It's a trend that is being felt nationwide, according to the National Volunteer Fire Council. While the number of calls volunteer fire departments respond to have steadily increased the past decade, the ranks of volunteers responding has decreased by 5 percent to 10 percent.
Major factors contributing to the decline include increased time demands, more rigorous training standards and the proliferation of two-income families whose members do not have time to volunteer, the national council reports.
"It doesn't seem younger folks are interested, and I don't know why," Rogers said.
The average age of volunteer firefighters ranges from 35 to 50, said Kurt Rogers, Lakewood's fire chief and president of the Lakehead Mutual Aid Association.
"The most common excuse I hear is 'I don't have time,' " said Tom Michalek, fire chief of the Wascott Volunteer Fire Department.
Michalek, who is also an emergency responder in Gordon, said he makes time to volunteer.
NO EASY JOB
Becoming a volunteer firefighter or emergency responder is no easy task.
It's more than a hobby, Kesler said.
Training requirements for volunteers are no different from those of professional firefighters or emergency medical service providers, Kesler said. And volunteer firefighters have to meet the same safety standards as well, he said.
"Essentially, the law says we cannot allow a firefighter to do a job we have not trained them to do," Kesler said.
Hundreds of hours go into training and maintaining skills for firefighters and emergency medical service responders, Kesler said.
"No one cares that you're not getting paid," Kesler said. "Volunteer firefighters are often sitting side-by-side with career firefighters in the classes."
The demands placed on volunteers are increasing, too, Rogers said. Volunteer firefighters aren't just called on to respond to medical emergencies and fires. Increasingly, volunteer fire departments deal with hazardous materials, methamphetamine labs and a host of other emergencies that fire departments are best suited to handle.
MEETING THE DEMAND
No one can identify a specific fire that got out of control because there weren't enough firefighters to handle the job.
But fire officials agree that with stricter safety regulations, the increased demand for people to fight rural fires and fewer people to respond, departments have had to rely more on help from one another to handle many emergencies.
Increasingly, departments turn to other volunteer departments during big emergencies to ensure firefighters' safety, Rogers said. When there is a fire in a rural Douglas County community, Kesler said, it's typical for three departments to respond.
Fighting rural fires requires more people, Kesler said. Unlike firefighting in the city, where firefighters can hook up to a hydrant to provide water, every drop of water that goes on a fire in the rural area has to be brought to the scene.
Kesler said it's not unusual to have 10 to 12 trucks at a rural fire, while a fire in Superior is likely to need only three trucks.
Then there's the issue of firefighter safety. Occupational Safety and Health Association rules require four people on the scene before a firefighter can enter a burning building: two to enter the building and two others to remain outside. One of those must also provide safety for the overall operation.
WORTH THE EFFORT
Most volunteer firefighters are recruited by word of mouth, encouragement from friends or because there's a family tradition of firefighting, said Rogers, whose father spent 20 years as a volunteer firefighter.
Sometimes departments can get help from students training for a career in firefighting at Lake Superior College, he said.
"They get real-world experience," Rogers said. "It's an excellent place to start."
But people don't have to be firefighters to help the volunteer departments, Kesler said. There are a host of jobs -- from clerical work to maintaining fire halls and trucks -- that people can do, he said.
Michalek admits he spends less time with his family, eats faster and sleeps less to juggle his volunteer responsibilities with two jobs, but said the rewards are worth the sacrifices.
"Who wouldn't help their friends and neighbors?" Michalek said. "We're helping our friends and neighbors in an emergency."
