Being a volunteer firefighter is a big time investment. Bunker gear alone can cost about $10,000, and that is not even factoring in the amount of time and money that is invested in training. "You're looking at . . . spending on a firefighter, over $20,000 with the training and the gear," said James Mousseau, volunteer firefighter, West Dunn Fire District, Recently, U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp introduced a bill that will allow volunteer firefighters to qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The program allows for student loan forgiveness on federal loans that have a remaining balance after 120 full payments. In North Dakota, 96-percent of firefighters are volunteers, and the number is starting to decrease, according to the North Dakota Firefighters Association.