Bonnie Benitz dreamed of being a firefighter since she was a young girl.
When the Benton County Fire District 4 captain started volunteering in Clark County, she wasn’t thinking about getting paid.
“I really enjoy going out and helping people. They are having a really bad day, and sometimes I can do just a little bit to make that better,” she said. When she started volunteering with the West Richland-based district 10 years ago, the sign in front of the Bombing Range Road fire station said firefighters went to 836 emergencies. Last year, they went to more than twice that many.
And while the number of career firefighters has grown, she said the number of new volunteers has dipped.
That is a trend fire district officials want to change.