10/28/2026
🚒🚑🚓 **NATIONAL FIRST RESPONDERS DAY — LET'S TALK ABOUT THE ONES WHO DO IT FOR FREE.**
Today, October 28th, is National First Responders Day. A day to recognize the firefighters, police officers, EMS providers, dispatchers, rescue personnel, and everyone else who answers the call when someone needs help.
From all of us at the **Indiana Fire Association**, thank you to every first responder across this great country. Your dedication, training, sacrifices, and commitment to protecting others deserve recognition.
But today, we want to shine a little extra light on a group of first responders who often don't receive nearly enough recognition.
**The volunteers.**
The men and women who answer the call without a paycheck. Without overtime. Without holiday pay. Without a pension waiting at the end of their service.
In fact, volunteering often COSTS them money.
It costs them time away from work. Time away from their families. Missed dinners, birthdays, holidays, and sporting events. It costs them physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Sometimes the things they see and experience stay with them long after the emergency is over.
And yet, when the pager goes off, they go.
Not because they're getting paid.
**Because somebody needs help.**
Now, before anyone misunderstands what we're saying, this is absolutely NOT a criticism of career firefighters, police officers, or paid EMS professionals. They make tremendous sacrifices, perform incredibly difficult jobs, and deserve every dollar they earn.
We're not suggesting volunteers are better than paid first responders.
But there is something pretty remarkable about someone who voluntarily accepts the same dangers, the same responsibilities, and many of the same personal sacrifices, knowing there is no financial reward waiting for them.
**You never have to wonder whether they're doing it for the money.**
🚒 **INDIANA COUNTY IS FORTUNATE. VERY FORTUNATE.**
Across Indiana County, we have **24 volunteer fire departments** made up of individuals who have decided that serving their communities is worth their time, effort, and personal sacrifice. There are also a couple departments just outside Indiana County border that respond into Indiana County.
Think about that for a minute.
Twenty-four+ organizations filled with people willing to leave their homes, their jobs, their families, and sometimes their warm beds at 3:00 in the morning because someone they've probably never met is having the worst day of their life.
And responding to emergencies is only part of what they do.
These same volunteers spend countless hours training, maintaining equipment, cleaning stations, completing paperwork, and raising money just to keep their departments operating.
Yes, you read that correctly.
**They volunteer to respond to emergencies. Then they volunteer MORE of their time to raise the money needed to respond to those emergencies.**
Imagine being expected to show up for work, perform a dangerous job, and then spend your weekend selling raffle tickets to help your employer pay the electric bill.
Welcome to the volunteer fire service.
💰 **LET'S TALK ABOUT WHAT YOUR FIRE DEPARTMENT ACTUALLY SAVES YOU.**
Every fire department is evaluated through the Insurance Services Office (ISO) Public Protection Classification (PPC) system.
The ratings generally range from Class 1 to Class 10, with Class 1 representing the highest level of evaluated fire protection.
Insurance companies may use these ratings when calculating homeowner insurance premiums. Depending on the insurance carrier and other factors, having an effective fire department serving your property can help reduce what you pay for insurance compared with having little or no recognized fire protection.
So while you might never need the fire department to put out a fire at your house, **you may already be receiving a financial benefit simply because your community has a functioning fire department.**
And no, we're not claiming every department in Indiana County has a Class 1 rating. That's not the point.
The point is that maintaining a capable, properly equipped, properly trained fire department has value to EVERYONE in the community, not just the people who call 911.
So the next time your local fire department asks you to purchase a raffle ticket, attend a fundraiser, or make a donation, consider what you're actually supporting.
Fire trucks that can cost more than a million dollars. Protective equipment that costs thousands per firefighter. Rescue tools, breathing apparatus, hoses, radios, fuel, heating, electricity, maintenance, and training.
And then there are the expenses nobody gets excited about.
Workers' compensation insurance. Vehicle insurance. Building insurance. Liability coverage.
All of which continue to increase.
Yes, departments seek grants, donations, and sometimes tax support. But is asking the community to contribute toward a service that protects lives, property, and potentially helps reduce insurance costs really asking too much?
**A fire department doesn't become unnecessary just because you haven't needed it yet.**
🚨 **THE FIRE SERVICE ISN'T JUST ABOUT FIRES ANYMORE.**
Years ago, the fire department's primary responsibility was pretty straightforward.
Something catches fire. Call the fire department.
Well, somewhere along the way, the job description got a little out of control.
We added vehicle extrication. Rope rescue. Trench rescue. Confined-space rescue. Structural collapse. Hazardous materials. Water rescue. Emergency medical response. Carbon monoxide investigations. Gas leaks. Electrical hazards. Storm damage. Trees down. Wires down. Flooding. And just about anything else that doesn't fit neatly into another emergency service category.
Today, the fire service is truly an **ALL-HAZARDS RESPONSE ORGANIZATION.**
In Indiana County, when someone calls 911 with a problem that isn't necessarily criminal or a medical emergency, who often gets dispatched?
The volunteer fire department.
Tree blocking the road? Fire department.
Wires down? Fire department.
Strange odor in a building? Fire department.
Water filling a basement? Fire department.
Someone stuck somewhere they shouldn't be? You guessed it.
Fire department.
And those volunteers show up with the expectation that they'll have the training, equipment, and knowledge to solve the problem.
For free.
We're not diminishing the responsibilities of law enforcement or EMS. They have their own enormous workloads and challenges. We're simply pointing out just how broad the responsibilities of the modern volunteer fire service have become.
🤝 **WE ARE A SYSTEM. AND EVERY PIECE MATTERS.**
The fire departments, EMS agencies, law enforcement, dispatchers, emergency management personnel, and specialty response teams across Indiana County and our neighboring counties all work together.
No single agency can do everything.
And that is exactly why protecting our volunteer fire departments is so important.
If one volunteer fire station closes, the emergencies in that community don't magically disappear.
Those calls go somewhere else.
Neighboring departments inherit larger coverage areas, increased call volumes, longer travel distances, and additional responsibilities.
Response times can increase. Resources become stretched thinner. And the volunteers who remain are asked to sacrifice even more.
**When one department struggles, the entire emergency response system feels it.**
And when one department disappears, the community loses something that is incredibly difficult and expensive to replace.
❤️ **SO TODAY, WE SAY THANK YOU.**
Thank you to every first responder who puts on a uniform, answers a radio, climbs into an ambulance, patrol car, fire truck, or rescue vehicle, and goes to work protecting people they may never meet.
And an extra thank you to the volunteers.
The men and women from every walk of life. Different ages, backgrounds, races, genders, beliefs, and political views.
People who may disagree about plenty of things but share one very important belief:
**When someone in our community needs help, we show up.**
They don't ask who you voted for. They don't ask what you believe. They don't ask whether you donated to the fire department last year.
They just come to help.
That's community service in its purest form.
So please, support your local volunteer fire department. Donate when you can. Buy the ticket. Attend the fundraiser. Encourage someone to join. And when you see those volunteers out working, thank them.
Because the volunteer fire service isn't free.
**The firefighters just aren't the ones sending you a bill for their time.**
From the Indiana Fire Association, Happy National First Responders Day to all who serve.
And to our fellow volunteers throughout Indiana County and beyond:
**We see you. We appreciate you. And we're proud to serve alongside you.**
🚒 **24+ departments. Thousands of calls. Countless sacrifices. One common mission: Serving our communities.**
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Blairsville Volunteer Fire Department Saltsburg VFD Black Lick Volunteer Fire Company Clymer Volunteer Fire Company #1 Coral-Graceton Volunteer Fire Company Glen Campbell Vol. Fire Comp. Homer City Fire Department Marion Center Volunteer Fire Department Armagh/East Wheatfield Volunteer Fire Company Bolivar Volunteer Fire Company Brush Valley Volunteer Fire Department Cherryhill Township Fire / Rescue Clyde Volunteer Fire Company Creekside Volunteer Fire Company Aultman Volunteer Fire Department Coal Run / McIntyre V.F.D Station 290 Iselin/West Lebanon VFC Tunnelton-Conemaugh Twp. Volunteer Fire Department Rossiter Volunteer Fire Company Plumville District Volunteer Fire Dept Cherry Tree Volunteer Fire Company Station 520 Elderton District Volunteer Fire Company Dayton District Volunteer Fire Company Commodore Vol. Fire Dept. Pine Township VFC
