In a town of just under 6,000, volunteers make up the Wamego Fire Department. "Volunteerism is a unique calling,” Tim Flanary, assistant chief for the department, said. “You've got to want to do it, because there's not a paycheck that comes with it. You've got to want to serve."
Serve, he has — Flanary first became a fireman in 1978.
"Going in as an 18-year-old, wide-eyed, scared to death, thinking, 'What am I doing?'” Flanary said. “But at the same time, knowing I’m taking care of my neighbors."
Forty-one years later, Flanary continues a career in taking care of his neighbors.
Four decades, he says, that have come with their highs and lows.
"I’ve delivered three babies in the field,” he said. “I've seen life both enter and leave the earth.”