Boots on the ground in the Bootheel

Friday, May 23, 2014
Lilbourn Fire Chief David McClarty

Dave McClarty faces many of the same challenges as Hoover when it comes to recruiting volunteers.

"In the 12 years I've been with the department, about 100 folks said they wanted to help, but maybe five or six have stuck with it," said McClarty, director of the New Madrid County Emergency Management District, which coordinates between the county's eight fire departments. In addition, McClarty serves on the Lilbourn Volunteer Fire Department, and he also works full time as owner of Dave's Bestway grocery store in Lilbourn, Missouri, population 1,200.

"As a volunteer, the most important person to you is your spouse or partner," McClarty said. "When you leave at two in the morning, they don't know if you're coming back. Without them, we couldn't do it, and they don't get enough credit."

It's difficult to define a "volunteer" firefighter. The county district pays McClarty a small amount for his work as director. Local volunteer firefighters generally receive a stipend of $10 for each emergency call and $10 per hour after the first hour. "We're all trained first responders, and that $10 is not nearly enough to cover time spent training, or even the gas to get there," McClarty said.

Beyond saving lives, fire departments also save rural citizens money. Maintaining a fire department helps keep insurance rates affordable for home and business owners. "Twelve years ago, our county fire chief was leaving, and the city came to me and asked me to take over as chief," McClarty explains. "I said I'd help out until they could find a replacement, partly because it would save me on insurance. I'm still here."

Like many rural fire departments, Lilbourn and New Madrid County get most of their funding from government grants. They raise funds at an occasional pancake breakfast as well. "But I get tired of asking the volunteers to sacrifice more time on fundraisers like that where we make $1,000 if we're lucky," McClarty said. "A new truck can cost $230,000."

McClarty spends about 25 hours a month in his firefighting roles. His most memorable call came when he helped deliver twin babies and administered the breath of life to the boy. He also helped drag a crop-spraying pilot from a burning plane, cared for his former schoolteacher when she had a stroke, and evacuated people during Mississippi River flooding.

(Reprinted from Today's Farmer magazine.)

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