Close your eyes.

Now imagine yourself sleeping peacefully in your bed.

Around 2:30 you are awoken to the perching sound of your smoke detector sounding.

You shoot up and are greeted by a wall of thick, hot smoke. Your eyes are burning and you can hardly breath.

Instinct kicks in.

You get low and try the door; but the handle is burning hot. The fire is right on the other side. Your only though is “I’m trapped”.

What if I said that no one is coming to save you? Well unfortunately, this is the reality in some parts of the U.S., including my home state of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania has seen a massive decline in the number of active Volunteer firefighters. In 1976, 300,000 firefighters protected the communities and boroughs of Pennsylvania. Today that number stands at 50,000. Why such a decline? The answer is in the title, volunteer. Time is the greatest factor killing the volunteer. The average person has no time to waste with a local department because they have family and work to deal with.

Becoming a firefighter takes about 200 hours of training. That's a lot of hours or dedication Along with the time restrictions, the money that each department must put into future firefighter is great. The gear for each firefighter is roughly $2,500 per person. Training is paid through the department and that’s thousands of dollars of classes. Now you can have all the trained firefighters you want but if you don’t have a truck, then what’s the point. The average price of a fire truck is roughly $500,000. Not including the hose, or air packs, or tools needed to fight the fire, just the apparatus.

Fortunately the government provides grants and other ways to help pay for these costs, but its still hard to get approval for grants. Some departments still can’t afford to pay for training, and gear and other necessities to fight these fires, which then close the departments. The town they covered less protected. It happens all over the state and even across the nation. Some departments try to fundraise but if the community they protect doesn’t help and send in money, then they can't help when needed. And its hard to fundraise when you have no dedicated members trying to fight for the department. You can train them, and give them all the best tools and gear money can buy, but if they don't have time, then whats the point?

I joined my local department when I was 16. When I first started, we always had a crew, always trained, and always hung around the station. Well it’s been 5 years since I joined and I’m starting to see the changes.

We have had multiple calls where I’ve been at the station and had no driver and we didn’t leave the station. Even if we did have a driver, we had maybe one or two people total on the apparatus; that not good enough to fight a fire.

The Pennsylvania government is trying to pass a bill that would make it worth it for an individual to join a department. This bill would allow volunteer firefighters tax credits or even waving their local income tax. It’s still in the works but if this bill is passed, it could be a major win for the volunteer firefighter.

This decline of the everyday hero can still be reversed . Supporting or even joining you're local department can make a huge impact. Remember, one day someone could be in danger, and no one will be their to help.