Dear Editor,
I’m responding to the article written in your paper dated February 10, 2023 about the Worden Volunteer Fire Department.
First of all, I’m sorry for Barbara Pearson’s accident, but as Barbara Pearson stated she “did not call 911” because she assumed no one would respond. Second, there are thousands of volunteer fire departments across the United States. For people that “chose” to live in a rural community volunteer means, just that exactly. No one in these volunteer fire departments are paid; they have to go to town to a paying job so they can still pay their bills.
Every one of these volunteers donates their time away from their family to help people. They spend a hundred plus hours in training on their own time so they are legally capable of doing their job helping people in their emergencies. Volunteering is not a paid position, and the stations are not staffed 24 hours a day like City fire departments who have paid staffing. They do the best they can with minimum volunteers because it’s in their hearts and souls to help the community. Some of the people that are in the Worden Volunteer Fire Department have dedicated their time, most of them are 15 years or more, some have retired and are willing to come out of retirement if it helps the department and it’s shorts they have to go on a call. People who have a volunteer department and depend on them and want a 24-hour 7-Day a week staff department need to realize that paying their wages takes taxes going up.
But the downside of higher taxes is there’s a lot of retired disabled people on fixed incomes that barely make it through the month on social security. So, either reach in your pocketbook like everyone else and pay for a 24/7/365 staff to man the station or volunteer your heart and soul and precious time trying to find volunteers that want to give their spare time and do the hundreds of hours of training that it takes to make a department for a rural fire department is like all the businesses that pay employees are hard to find everyone wants to point a finger and bash the volunteers and are not willing to pay for a paid department nor give their precious time last but not least from Barbara Pearson: “ the childish politics and small town power trips,” those are everywhere, some worse than others. WVFD has removed the people who are on their power trips and did not want to attend meetings or trainings. It takes the whole community to help their volunteer fire departments and back them 100%. Go to their meetings, ask questions on how to help donate to them, volunteer and learn to support them, and thank them. That’s free. Don’t point fingers, bash them, start rumors, instead help them to help you and the community.
Roseanne Kober,
Huntley
