Volunteer Firefighting: The Challenges, the Training, The Costs—Do You Have What it Takes?
Could you, would you do what they do—for free?
(Part 1 of a series) Recruitment For 52 weeks a year without fail, Dan Stack and Shawn O'Brien meet for at least two hours every Tuesday evening to train with their colleagues at the Highland Volunteer Fire Company in McCandless. It's a significant time commitment for anyone, but for volunteer firefighters throughout Western Pennsylvania, that's only the beginning. When young men or women decide to be a volunteer firefighter in McCandless, they are sent to the Allegheny County fire academy for a minimum of 166 hours of initial training. "It's broken down into four modules," said Stack, who also is the McCandless fire marshal. "They learn introduction to firefighting, fire ground support, exterior firefighting, interior firefighting. "…
