I don't understand why we have volunteer fire departments in a lot of places. For instance, if you go out to area just outside of Houston there are volunteer fire departments. These are pretty heavily populated areas, etc. I know it is outside city limits, but we still pay for plenty of other services in the county. I never understood why the fire fighters aren't funded. It isn't like these are towns of 50 that can't afford it. It seems like if you want a top notch fire department you would have to pay them (especially when they can work in Houston for pay, but I know some work in Houston and volunteer outside of it). Also it seems they are important enough to deserve pay. Do they get some kind of pay I don't know about?
As the son of a 30 yr veteran of the Pasadena Volunteer Fire Dept, I can say.........no....they dont. They do it for the reward of doing a hard job for the good of the community. The taxes go towards making sure they have the best equipment available to do their jobs...by not having salaries...more of the money goes to the equipment.
