[Tim Hancock]

I live with in 20 miles of several small towns in NW Ohio farm country. Every township still has a volunteer fire department and it works fine as many of the volunteers work locally or are farmers. When the alarm sounds, response time is still amazingly quick and typically several departments show up. Around here folks still help/care about their neighbors. Last fire I witnessed (one mile over across the field) was a barn fire caused by lightning. I got there within 5-7 minutes of the fire starting, the first volunteer fire department was there about five minutes later. Before the night was over, there were trucks and tankers from at least 4 departments and about 50 other people who were concerned about the family that owned the place. The wood barn was a total loss, but the fire department saved the nearby buildings and house from going up in flames. I was in awe of how hot and fast that barn burned but I was also in awe of how many firefighters and concerned community members showed up on a weekend night out in the middle of nowhere.

I highly doubt volunteer fire departments would be nearly as effective in more urban areas. If I lived in an urban area, I would sleep better at night knowing guys like Vinman are on duty.