Volunteer fire departments trying new strategy to attract firefighters

MONROE COUNTY — If you don't live in or near a big city, volunteer firefighters will likely respond to your emergencies. However, volunteer departments need to find more people to take those calls.

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The Indiana Fire Chiefs Association assembled a website to recruit new volunteers and retain their current first responders thanks to a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

More than 80 percent of Indiana's first responders are volunteers. That includes Joe McWhorter, who still volunteers with the Monroe Fire Protection District at age 78.

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"I started when I was 23 and helped organize this department back in 1969," McWhorter said, "I'm not quite as fast as I was, but other than that, I'm ready to go."

Other firefighters in Monroe County such as Jaydon Hoffman start as volunteers and work their way to paid status.

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"When I was 16, my mom and dad took me up to the local fire department and said, 'Go ask them,'" Hoffman said. "When someone calls 911 and dispatch doesn't know who to send, they send the fire department."

Monroe County has a mix of paid and volunteer firefighters, but McWhorter worries that it is becoming harder to find people who could replace him.

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"It's so much different because you have to have more time," McWhorter said. "It takes so much time to get the schooling in and everybody is busier now. It's hard to do it."

The new website hopes to attract new firefighters who would not be able to physically stop and apply at a volunteer fire department.