TREYNOR, Iowa. (KMTV) — In small, rural areas like Treynor, fire departments work with few resources to stay afloat. Their budgets are usually just enough to cover maintenance, operations and utilities.
"So we have to rely on things like donations or grants to get us the other equipment we need or to replace it over time," Treynor Fire Chief Dan Roberts said.
In Pottawattamie County, every volunteer fire department can get $10,000 a year from the Iowa West Foundation to cover costs like protective gear, smoke alarms, and radio or water rescue equipment. The departments are also asked to match donations.
"We this year purchased new sets of bunker gear. They total about $4,000 for a coat and set of pants. We purchased five of them this year," Roberts said.
One of the biggest challenges rural departments face is recruiting volunteers, so the grant money helps buy equipment that's up-to-date making it more enticing for people to join.
"The population in small, rural communities is aging, so they're a lot more likely to have emergency calls. Trying to find a volunteer to do that is hard enough. Asking the volunteer to come up with their own money to pay for their protective equipment is just too much to ask," Iowa West Foundation President & CEO Brenda Mainwaring said.
Roberts has been working in the industry for 27 years. At one point, the department was at an all-time low for volunteers — they only had 16 people to help out.
"It's important to keep volunteers because it keeps a fire station in town. It keeps the responses a little bit quicker. We just, we don't want to see that end," Roberts said.
It's a measure of safety that relies on people stepping up to help.
If you'd like to volunteer, Treynor's department meets on Monday nights.
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