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They say if you become a firefighter, you remain a firefighter day and night. It’s not a hobby that you pursue for a while and then move on to something else. That appears to be changing.

What began as a small brush fire but exploded into a forest fire that consumed more than 600 acres in Polk County was, like Hurricane Helene, a wake-up call.

A team of local firefighters and the North Carolina Forest Service firefighters threw everything they had at it at first, from aircraft hauling water to back-burning strategies that eventually paid off.

Meanwhile, other fires were raging around the state and in South Carolina.

As the saying goes, firefighters danced with the devil and won.

This time. But what about next time? Because there will be a next time. It’s inevitable as our climate continues to change.

In rural areas such as ours, most communities depend on volunteers to jump into a fire truck and rush to the scene. However, the number of volunteer firefighters in North Carolina has dropped by more than 5,000 since 2020. That is a major decline.

The reasons fewer people are signing up to be a volunteer firefighter won’t surprise you.

Mainly, it’s because fewer people want to give up personal time, the time when they are not at work. Family considerations and losing recreational time are key factors, as is the fact that they don’t get paid for the time spent handling a hose or driving a firetruck.

But the number one reason many who already have volunteered but decide to quit probably won’t surprise anyone. They give up because they don’t feel their sacrifice of personal time and energy is appreciated.

If we accept this latest wake-up call, we need to do a better job of showing our appreciation. The next time, we might not be so lucky.

Larry McDermott is a local retired farmer/journalist. Reach him at hardscrabblehollow@gmail.com