Professionals

Let’s be honest – almost nobody loves their job. But we’re incredibly grateful for the folks who do, and at Red Lick Volunteer Fire Department, half of our 28 members are professional firefighters and/or EMS personnel. They’re the ones who show up on their time off and do a job they actually love.

For a rural area that is important to community safety. It is like getting free overtime from the firefighters. There is no way that the county could afford to hire people to replace them. They bring a level of expertise and dedication that couldn’t be provide without them.

The other volunteers benefit from their work too. Their training and leadership is incredibly valuable and leads to a better response to emergencies and a lower rate of injuries on scene. I have never worked with such a professional volunteer department in my 35 years of being a volunteer fireman.

Their skills and efforts are not the only things we cherish. They have important contacts with other fire departments. When we need to clean our turnout gear we go to the fire department at the depot. When we need new airpacks, Lexington Fire Department donates their old ones. None of that would happen without our professional volunteers and their contacts.

In Madison County, all the fire departments work closely with each other. It does not matter that they are paid or volunteer departments. Having professional firefighters on our team earns so much respect from the paid firefighters that we work with.

Our team’s strength comes from the blend of experienced professionals and dedicated volunteers, a combination particularly vital in our rural community where quick, effective response times are critical.