High Country Fire and Rescue and Williams Volunteer Fire Department are two of the more than 19,762 volunteer fire departments in the U.S. looking to fill their ranks with volunteers. According to the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), volunteers comprise 70 percent of firefighters in the U.S. meaning 814,800 of the one million firefighters across the U.S. are volunteers. “Volunteerism, especially in the fire service, has (seen) a progressive decrease over the years of the number of people willing to volunteer in these kinds of settings,” said John Moede, assistant fire chief at Williams Volunteer Fire Department. Filling staffing needs is a constant battle especially when the department is maintained only by volunteers.