ROCK SPRINGS, Wis. -- A volunteer fire department that nearly died last year is now surviving, thanks to Rock Springs village residents stepping up to help.
The village board considered closing the Rock Springs Volunteer Fire Department at 105 E. Broadway after its membership dropped to 12 firefighters last year. Leaders blamed a declining population -- quickened by a 2008 flood -- for the department's struggles.
But community members argued outsourcing emergency services to another community would make the village less safe, and newly elected leaders decided to maintain the fire department, Chief Chuck Kissack said.
"It was quite a letdown when I heard it was closing," said Kissack, who's served the department for about 30 years. "(Village board members) would've liked to close it down, but I think enough people in town went against them that they realized it'd be a mistake to do it."
In the past year, improved recruitment efforts have boosted the department's ranks to more than 20 volunteers, he said.
A similar problem has plagued small towns across the country -- how to match public safety costs with a declining, older population. Rock Springs has fewer than 400 residents, and the population dropped considerably after the Baraboo River flooded homes in 2008.
"How do you get people to move to a village when you don't have jobs for them and you don't have the infrastructure?" said village president Lisa Zautke. "So, it's pretty tough."
Village leaders have lured a gas station to downtown and rebuilt a baseball field. But work remains, Zautke said.
"We're alive. We're trying to fight," she said. "We're trying to show that we made it and survived. We just have to move forward and try to keep everybody on the same team."
Kissack said the fire department's budget is about $38,000, but firefighters hold an annual summer picnic and pancake breakfast to keep costs down, he said.
Crews responded to three fires last year, and about 32 emergency response requests. Volunteers sometimes have to take the fire trucks out monthly for training, and also to give the equipment some use, Kissack said.
Besides the new volunteers, the department also recently purchased a new fire truck. The new truck is a symbol that the department will carry on its work, Kissack said.
"It makes it seem like you've accomplished something," he said. "It makes everybody feel good. (Residents) know how much you're doing for them and what you're doing for them."
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