Firefighters said the number of calls are going up, but their fighting force is going down. Both Benton and Franklin Counties rely heavily on volunteer firefighters and need more.
"Without the volunteers we couldn't survive," Benton County Fire District #4 Captain Ed Dunbar said.
Dunbar started as a volunteer firefighter in 1983, and 20 years later he turned firefighting into a career.
"It is truly a calling and a passion," he said.
However, with a high turnover rate in recent years, he said the need for volunteer firefighters has grown for agencies throughout the region.
"Without the depth of the volunteers we can't serve our community like we need to,” he admitted.
The fire departments are spread thin and he said they're only getting busier, with the volume of calls for Fire District 4 hitting 1,400 last year.