Fire department seeks volunteers

Jason Garber

Harrisonburg firemen inspect Hillside after Friday’s early-morning flood.

Open since 1860, Hose Company Number Four is the oldest fire department in Rockingham County, and it's looking for volunteer firefighters to add to their current crew.

Hose Company Number Four operates out of two stations, one on East Rock Street and one on Port Republic Road.

From 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., the company operates with paid staff provided by the city of Harrisonburg. Before and after these hours, the company relies entirely on volunteer staff.

Zeb Elliott, a business major at James Madison University, has been a volunteer firefighter for about one year and currently puts in 30 hours per week, on average. "I'm not out on calls the whole time," said Elliott, "but am around the station, studying, or doing whatever needs to be done."

Basic volunteers are able to go out on calls after only 10 hours of training. The training consists of one being familiarized with the engine and its various pieces of relevant equipment. These volunteers, however, are not allowed to do "the fun stuff," according to Elliott.

To be allowed to enter a burning building and actually fight the fire, one must go through a more intensive training process called Firefighter One. This 160 hours of training lasts from February until April and costs the trainee $10, which the participant gets back if they pass the test successfully. "If not," said Elliott, "you're out $10. It teaches you how to be safe in the fire situations."

The more intensive training is not required, however, to go out on runs with the crew.

More volunteers are needed because of the overabundance of calls put in to the fire station. "We have about 1100 calls a year," said Elliott, "and the calls have been going up."

The fire departments have been responding to more calls, as they respond to not only all types of fires, but medical emergencies, accidents, hazardous material incidents and any other situation where people are in need of emergency assistance.

Ten new volunteers have joined the company in the last month, all drawn from JMU, but those numbers are still not sufficient. Elliott puts in the maximum number of allowable volunteer hours, but most volunteers put in about eight to 10 hours per week. Volunteers who have families are likely to put in even fewer hours than others and are more likely to stop volunteering due to familial commitments. However, the company is not picky about hours. "You put in what you can," said Elliott.

Being a volunteer has many benefits, according to EMU alumnus Jonathan Yoder, who started attending EMU in the same month that he started volunteering. "Serving as a volunteer firefighter is a great way to make connections with the broader Harrisonburg community and learn more about the area that is all too often just a backdrop for student's studies."

"I've been a volunteer firefighter for Hose Company Number Four since August, 1999," said Yoder. "My work as a firefighter was definitely a highlight of my college experience, led to an internship with the District of Columbia Department of Fire and E.M.S during my semester in WSSY and my employment with the Henrico County Division of Fire as a career firefighter."

"It has its ups and downs," said Elliott. "But it does look good on resumé. Plus, I get to ride on a firetruck."