NEW ADDITION — Richmond Volunteer Fire and Rescue Co. Chief Brian Hare, left, and Eric Jeffers, assistant chief, stand next to a new engine the department acquired in December. It was purchased 100 percent through fundraising over a period of about seven years. The department needs volunteers interested in training to become fire fighters or EMTs or to volunteer on the auxiliary side in any number of ways, including, for example, helping with weekly bingo at the hall located at 7452 state Route 152 S., Richmond. -- Janice Kiaski

RICHMOND — When Brian Hare was growing up, there was no shortage of volunteers with the Richmond Volunteer Fire and Rescue Co., which was founded in 1947.

Not so today, according to Hare, who has been involved with the department for more than three decades, the past six years as chief.

“I had a scanner when I was younger, and you used to hear the fire siren blowing, and the adrenalin rush from that,” he said in explaining his motivation to join. “We had a good many juniors back then. When I joined 31 years ago, there was a waiting list to get in. There were 35 members on the roster. You put your application in and waited and hoped you got voted in at the meeting.”

Recruiting community volunteers is high on the department’s wish list — volunteers to become fire fighters and EMTs but also to help on the auxiliary side of things, too, according to Hare, who talked recently about the department’s status in the company of Donna Crago, treasurer, and Eric Jeffers, assistant chief. The three work as dispatchers with the county 911 system and note a lack of volunteers is not a situation unique to them, other fire departments or organizations in general for that matter.

The department’s current staff includes 17 active fire fighters and EMTs; two trainees in class/testing phase; and two junior fire fighters. “Out of that 17, less than half of them are from our response area, which covers fires, so when you call for a fire, basically you’re going to pull from eight members who live close by and the others are coming from Wintersville, Steubenville and Toronto who have joined our department because they enjoy the way we do things.”

Jeffers lives in Steubenville, for instance, but used to live in Richmond. It might take him 15 minutes at best to respond, he said.

The department doesn’t have a lack of community support, they said, but rather a lack of volunteers from the immediate community.

Because of the decline in available volunteers, the department reluctantly began partial paid staffing effective March 1. They said the department is able to staff one EMT most days during the day and supplements staffing with a “paid-per-call” program.

“In the last quarter of last year, we had a huge spike in unanswered calls, meaning we didn’t have anybody responding,” Crago explained. “We had to depend on a mutual aid agency coming from Wintersville or East Springfield to come to our community to take our patients to the hospital. You can’t wait a year or let’s see how it goes because everyone of those has the potential of being life and death, and I don’t want to sound dramatic, but it is,” Crago continued, “so we decided that the little nest egg we have we’re going to use that to pay people to be at the station so when an emergency call comes in, we can get out and cover those calls.”

The department logged 380 calls in 2018. “The fire side is very little now — 90 percent of the calls are EMS,” Jeffers said.

An increased volunteer presence would definitely help, they said. “It would be nice if we could get another eight or 10 volunteers from the local community that basically could get the vehicles out of the door,” Hare said.

Becoming a volunteer begins with having a desire to help others or help the department, they said, with training at the department’s expense. “We put people through the training,” Hare said. “It costs about $1,200 a student to go to EMT class, and fire class is like $700 now.”

The department is always recruiting individuals 14 and older. “We have a junior fire fighter/EMT program for kids 14 to 18,” Crago notes. “The active roster includes men and women 18 years of age or older interested in obtaining fire and/or EMS certifications.”

“If you’re 14 years old to 17 you can come and volunteer as a junior firefighter,” Crago said. “If you’re interested in the medical field or firefighting, you can go on an ambulance call and see some of those things to prepare for your adulthood. The volunteer hours you spend here can be used for college applications now require community volunteering hours, and the Beta Club at Edison requires you to have community service, so you can come here and get them.”

She continued, “Our kids do work, and we try to make it fun. We are really successful with our junior department. We want to advertise that these kids can come here — it’s a safe place, we watch over them, it’s a good place to get some volunteer hours and think of different career things. If you’re 18 to whatever, we’ll put you through EMT school or firefighters school. You can be an active member.”

The auxiliary department, meanwhile, seeks community volunteers as well with senior citizens welcomed. “We need tinkerers, people to fix a leaky sink or do some minor mechanics on the truck, or come to bingo and help us at bingo, work in the kitchen or bake a cake,” Crago said. “Every time we do bingo, we someone to sell tickets and there’s cleanup, or help in kitchen and serve food,” she said, adding, “Anybody in the community, we can pretty much find a place for you.”

In December, the department added to its fleet the first new engine the department has purchased since 1967, an investment of about $350,000, including equipment.

“We were able to purchase that 100 percent through fundraising over a period of what probably took us six to seven years,” Hare said. “We’re different from most fire departments because we still have fundraising as a large part of our budget,” added Crago.

The department’s largest fundraiser is bingo, which is held every Sunday. Doors open at 5 p.m. with bingo beginning at 7 p.m. The kitchen is open and offers food. Another fundraiser is the annual gun bash. The second-annual one will be held there Sept. 14.

“We’re proud of the fact that we’ve been able to sustain ourselves,” said Crago. That effort requires working to secure grants and being thrifty.

Because of changes in the Medicare laws, the department no longer is able to continue its annual community membership (ambulance subscription) drive. It represents an annual loss of about $10,000.

“We appreciate the community’s support over the years,” she noted.

For information on volunteering, call (740) 765-5390.