While many volunteer fire companies struggle due to a critical shortage of volunteers, one fire company in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, has defied the odds by keeping its ranks full and its response times fast.
According to a recent NPR report, there were 676,9000 volunteer firefighters in the U.S. in 2020, down from 897,750 in 1984, while the number of emergency calls tripled over that same period.
However, the Neptune Fire Company currently has 50 full members and four trucks and responds to 300-400 calls annually.
Neptune Fire police member Lisa Sprankle credits the family atmosphere and tradition at the Neptune for its success.
“My mom and two brothers were firefighters and I saw all the things they did so I wanted to do it as well,” Sprankle said.
Many of Neptune’s 50 members have family who are also volunteer firefighters, and some members boast several generations of volunteer firefighters in their families.
Even if a department finds willing volunteers, another of the major barriers to becoming a firefighter are the many trainings and certifications a volunteer must earn before they are allowed to actually fight a fire.
Neptune’s leaders do their best to help get everyone certified as quickly as possible.
Neptune Firefighter Micheal Maloney said and they are at 75 percent certifications and are only two people away from 100.
One reason they are so successful at getting their members certified is their participation in a program that gives money back to volunteer firefighters for training. Members can get up to $575 a year by filling out an online application and completing a background check.
Many of Neptune’s volunteers have benefited from this program.
Like Sprankle, Maloney’s interest in firefighting was passed down to him from his parent’s generation, and he has already passed the desire to serve on to his son Vinnie.
Vinnie, a freshman at Tyrone Area High School, is already following in his dad’s footsteps as a junior firefighter at Neptune.
“I became a volunteer firefighter so that I could help do things like put out fires, clean up wrecks, and help anyone that needs it. This has affected my life because it has given me a lot more to do. It has also let me meet a lot of new people and make many new friends,” Vinnie said.
Despite battling cancer two times, Spankle’s husband Gary is also a member of the fire police at Neptune, though he is currently not an active member.
“I wanted to help people who were in need because I lost a great uncle in a fire,” Gary said.
It is this dedication to service that makes Neptune a successful volunteer fire department.
“I am fortunate to have been a volunteer firefighter and a career firefighter,” Maloney said, “There are certainly challenges with being a firefighter. I have missed birthdays, holidays, and family events,” Maloney said. “But it’s worth it.”
