This paper examines the importance of volunteer fire departments in the United States, tracing their origins to Benjamin Franklin's 1736 Philadelphia fire brigade. Drawing on sources in fire service management, public administration, and community service literature, the paper argues that volunteer fire departments are not merely valuable but vital to American communities. It covers the defining characteristics of volunteers, the wide range of services volunteer departments provide, their various organizational structures, and the economic realities that make volunteerism essential — particularly in smaller towns that cannot afford full-time career firefighters. The paper concludes that volunteer fire departments remain a critical line of defense against fire hazards across the country.
In 1736, Benjamin Franklin initiated the first American volunteer fire brigade in Philadelphia. In contemporary times, 270 years later, according to Jack W. Snook et al. (2006) in Recruiting, Training, and Maintaining Volunteer Fire Fighters, economics constitute the primary reason for the existence of volunteer firefighters. Due to restricted financial resources, cities and fire districts routinely utilize volunteers and volunteer fire departments to help maintain and/or increase their service levels.
Nevertheless, volunteer firefighters and fire departments "must also meet exactly the same continuing education standards as their paid counterparts. They need to act just as quickly and efficiently during an emergency" (Snook et al., 2006, p. 6). "Volunteer," however, does not denote "free."
This paper explores the value of volunteer fire departments and addresses the question: Why are volunteer fire departments important? In answering this question, it contends that volunteer fire departments prove not only valuable, but vital to communities.
In U.S. communities, a fire department responds to a fire approximately every 20 seconds. To suppress and/or arrest out-of-control fires, the U.S. Fire Administration reports that "87% of fire departments are volunteer or mostly volunteer and protect 38% of the population" (Fire departments, 2008). The estimated number of fire departments in the U.S. during 2007 totaled approximately 30,185.
Relating to fire department membership, Eleanor Brown (1999) defines "volunteer" in "The Scope of Volunteer Activity and Public Service." In the past, scholars strived to use the word precisely. Essentially, Brown notes, volunteering consists of uncompelled, purposeful activity in which the volunteer does not capture the productive value. One particular definition portrays a volunteer as:
an individual engaging in behavior that is not bio-socially determined (e.g., eating, sleeping), nor economically necessitated (e.g., paid work, housework, home repair), nor sociopolitically compelled (e.g., paying one's taxes, clothing oneself before appearing in public), but rather that is essentially (primarily) motivated by the expectation of psychic benefits of some kind as a result of activities that have a market value greater than any remuneration received for such activities. (Brown, 1999, p. 17)
Franklin Gould (2003), a former third-grade teacher in New Hampshire, stresses the value of volunteers to his class. He regularly asks new students: "How are the lending library and the volunteer fire department DIFFERENT from Ben Franklin's other inventions?" The correct answer is "They provide a service for the community" (Gould, 2003, p. 507).
In America's early history, an out-of-control fire presented one common yet particularly tragic hazard that individuals living in colonial times had to confront. Edwin S. Gaustad (2004) points out in Benjamin Franklin: Inventing America: "Homes and public buildings burned, and neighbors' attempts to put out these proved too little and too late."
Today, members of volunteer fire departments continue to regularly suppress and/or arrest out-of-control fires (Snook et al., 2006).
Volunteer fire departments expect their members to be ready to respond at any time, including in the middle of the night. Sometimes volunteer firefighters must endure blistering heat; other times they work in freezing cold or driving rain for extended periods. In addition to asking firefighters to risk their lives, fire departments regularly perform numerous positive actions in and for their communities, as Scott Harkins and Frank B. McCluskey (2002) point out in Burning for Success: How Volunteer Fire Departments Motivate Teams, Coach Leaders and Deliver Killer Customer Service Without Spending a Dime. Frequently, however, firefighters work unnoticed (Harkins & McCluskey, 2002, p. 35).
James Sherk (2007) notes in "Heat on Volunteer Firefighters" that approximately 26,000 volunteer fire departments in the U.S. stay prepared to fight fires for tens of millions of Americans and their homes. "Almost 3 in 4 firefighters in the United States are volunteers, and smaller towns and cities call on them for protection. A town with 3,000 residents simply cannot afford the expense of hiring full-time career firefighters" ("Heat on Volunteer Firefighters," 2007, p. A15). In the event of an out-of-control fire, smaller towns and communities traditionally rely on volunteer firefighters.
"Full range of services volunteer departments provide"
"Organizational structures and governance models"
Just as individuals who serve their communities through volunteer fire departments receive positive benefits in return, the communities those departments serve gain valuable and vital tangible and intangible benefits, as noted in the discussion of volunteer fire departments' tasks above. Today, as in the past, an out-of-control fire continues to constitute one of the most common and significant tragic hazards individuals face. Volunteer fire departments prove to be a vital part of society, as they suppress and/or arrest out-of-control fires — most of the time, just in time.
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