Volunteer fire departments across the region and even the state of Pennsylvania have started to shrink over the years as fewer people come forward to volunteer.
But a solution to the lack of recruits might have been found within local schools.
North Star High School added a new class students can take this year. It's a one-credit course that trains them to become volunteer firefighters. The course is taught by Christian Boyd, who on top of being a teacher at the school is a state fire and EMS instructor as well as assistant chief at the Stoystown Volunteer Fire Company.
"I've been with the state fire academy since 2001, and usually, this is a class that I do in a fire station during the winter weekend for adults, not every day for 45 minutes in a school setting. So I'm glad that they were interested in it and signed up for it," said Boyd.