Column: Volunteer fire and rescue need your support, help if you can

If you’ve ever even mildly considered becoming a volunteer firefighter or emergency medical service provider, don’t wait.

Call your local organization and tell them you’re interested, find out what you might be able to do for them.

They’ll listen. They’ll thank you. They need you. We need you.

COVID-19 and well-intended actions that aimed to stop healthcare facilities from being overwhelmed had far-reaching and unintended consequences on industries, organizations, businesses and people.

But few have been hit as hard as volunteer fire departments and rescue squads, many of which were already seeing declining memberships.

I remember talking to a small town volunteer about eight years ago, who has since moved away. At the time, he told me there was actually a waiting list to join the department, but for many rescue organizations those days are gone.

In a more recent conversation, a rescue squad leader told me that volunteerism is dying. It’s not hard to believe. It’s not even hard to understand why.

Who has the time? Who wants to put themselves in danger? The pay is nonexistent in most cases. The hours are random.

The situations they deal with are at frequently horrific and sometimes heartbreaking. It’s not for the faint of heart.

He also told me, though, that there is a camaraderie that exists between volunteers that’s unlike anything else. And for some, the call to help, serve and protect their neighbors is in their blood. I don’t pretend to understand, but I’m sure any volunteers who read this probably do.

What I do know is that for hundreds of years we’ve relied on these volunteers to help us in the worst of times. For those who’ve lent their aid to us, I offer appreciation.

For many families, such service has been and continues to be generational. But it’s in decline. That’s what I’m told. That’s what I’ve read.

There are many factors. Smaller family sizes, fewer opportunities for employment, state-mandated regulations that…