The Chart Online

Volunteer firefighters conquer flames for free
By Virginia Farichild

City Editor

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the term firefighter has taken on a new definition.

People saw firsthand the price these men and women pay for little or nothing in return. While firefighters in large cities receive paychecks for their duties, their rural counterparts may fight every fire and attend every call for little or no pay.

One has to wonder what drives and motivates these volunteer firefighters to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week at a high-risk job for no money; there has to be a catch.

Jared Delzell, sophomore criminal justice major, said there is none.

Delzell has been a volunteer firefighter in Carl Junction since 2000, his senior year of high school.

"I've just been around it my whole life, and I wanted to get into it and see what it's all about," he said.

Delzell said he not only fights fires, but tends to wrecks, domestic calls and medical assists.

"When you're going to a call, the stress level is high because you don't know what you're walking into," he said. "You don't talk to the person making the 911 call; so all the information you get is second hand.

"You don't know if you have a routine medical call, or if the person is suicidal and is going to come after you with a gun, and that happens more than you'd think."

He said another problem is the high levels of methamphetamine production in the area.

"A lot of the fires are meth related," Delzell said. "If you hit a certain chemical with water, it could explode and kill you."

He and his co-workers have come close to disaster several times.

"We've had numerous close calls," Delzell said. "You just have to do what you're trained to do. Sometimes you get a little careless, and it puts things back into perspective.

"We almost got hit by a semi at a high rate of speed once when we were pulling out of our station going to a fire. We've been chased out by machetes."

He said he has had knives thrown at him, and has been threatened with guns.

"It's not like you see on the news where this stuff just happens every once in a while," Delzell said. "There's stuff out there that happens on a daily basis."

He said people get defensive when firefighters go into their homes. Delzell said his job is to secure the scene of a domestic dispute until the police arrive.

"In a rural area like this, the sheriff's department could be coming all the way from Carthage," Delzell said. "If you're walking into someone's home and they don't want you there, they're going to get defensive about it."

Despite all the hazards involved, he said he'd continue to be a firefighter after he graduates from college.

Scott Skoglund, resident firefighter at Carl Junction, said he likes to help people.

"It's about mind set," he said. "We see stuff that no one else should have to see."

Delzell said it's frustrating at times when the public doesn't cooperate with his department.

"They (the public) have no regard for emergency vehicles," he said. "But, grateful or not, it's still a reward knowing you're helping somebody."

Skoglund said he has noticed an increase in the respect given to the fire department since Sept. 11.

Besides helping people, Delzell believes he receives many things from being a volunteer firefighter.

"You get the training; you get the experience with the public," he said. "When I moved in [to the firehouse], I was crazy. Being a firefighter has opened me up to reality."