In looking over some family history a few years ago, I noticed an editorial written by my great grandfather for the small newspaper he ran in Berkeley, California in the late 19th Century. In short, it said, without reservation, that the “Berkeley Beacon” would not endorse any candidate running for office if they didn’t already serve as a volunteer firefighter.
That’s the way it was back then. If you didn’t show up for fires, and there were a lot of them back then, it was hard to make the case you were really committed to your community.
And that has been the way it’s been for Talbot County’s fire departments in Easton, St. Michaels, Oxford and Trappe. For over 220 plus years, making Talbot one of the oldest volunteer firefighter traditions in the country, there was no doubt that the right number of the “right stuff” would be on call when fire broke out. Until now.
Over the last the few decades, the number of Talbot County volunteer firefighters has been in a shocking decline. In the case of the Easton Volunteer Fire Department, who typically had dozens of young men, and later women, on long waiting lists, not one young recruit signed up in 2014 or 2015.
All of this is very worrisome to Jamie McNeal, the President of the Talbot County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association, and forty-two year veteran of the Easton Fire Company. In his Spy interview, Jamie talks candidly about the challenge for volunteer fire departments to recruit and maintain the manpower needed for protecting its residents. He also talks about new strategies, some showing signs of great promise this year, to make sure the remarkable institution of community service and protection continues.
This video is approximately six minutes in length
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