Hardin County Fire Dept. shares importance of volunteer firefighters in communities

HARDIN COUNTY, Tenn. — Across the nation, volunteer firefighters are becoming less and less common. One local fire department explains just how important volunteers are to their communities.

The Hardin County Fire Department was established in 1979. It started as a fully volunteer department and now has approximately 140 volunteers and 12 paid positions.

“Our program and our fire department is made up of mostly volunteers. So the volunteers is the lifeblood of our fire department,” said Chief Melvin Martin, HCFD.

Hardin County EMA Director Larae Smiley-Sliger says that these first responders share a strong bond.

“It truly is a family and we always try to work together and we really have a strong department and strong sense of brother and sister hood family for the whole community,” said Smiley-Sliger.

Gary Combs began volunteering when the program began in 1979. He worked full time for the local power company and volunteered in his off time.

“We had a storm go through one time, and we had two houses hit by lightning and no one responded. When TVA come and started the Yellow Creek Program, I think that’s when we really got started doing the volunteer fire department. And so I’m very proud to see how far we’ve come in 50 years,” said Combs.

Volunteer firefighters respond from home. They carry pagers and cover a specific district when a call comes in. These volunteers come from all walks of life, from educators to mechanics.

“You know when it’s your time to call, when you can answer the call, you answer the call, that’s the beauty of volunteering. I think that’s the biggest reward, aside from helping people, is that you get a family out of this unlike any other family,” said Andrea Fore, volunteer firefighter for HCFD.

Several West Tennessee fire departments have volunteer firefighters. For more information on volunteering with HCFD, click here.

For more Hardin County news, click here.