SUSSEX COUNTY, Del.- With more development and a rapidly growing population come more medical emergencies and incidents like car accidents and fires.
Millville Volunteer Fire Company Chief Guy Rickards says frequent incidents require more help.
"As we run more calls, that causes more demand on volunteers," Rickards said. "When I first joined the service here in Millville, we ran about 100 fire calls a year and now we are well up above 400."
All fire companies in Sussex have a combination of paid or career and volunteer members. Lewes Fire Department Deputy Chief Aidan Gause says that means people who will come if your house is on fire are often doing it in their spare time.
"Here in the Lewes Fire Department we run about 800 fire rescue calls alone every year," Gause said. "So with that being said you have guys and girls leaving their families, dinners, birthday parties, etc. at the drop of a hat to try and respond to some of these emergencies."
But despite the uptick in calls, both Millville and Lewes say they're not seeing more volunteers.
"We currently have six career members during the day and four at nighttime," Gause said. "Obviously, those numbers are insufficient to respond to the number of calls we have and sometimes the seriousness of the calls we have. It is certainly volunteers on almost every call that supplements that personnel."
Sometimes construction glitches prompt fire companies to come out, taking them away from actual emergencies.
"The fire alarms and the CO detectors cause calls because they have some malfunctions and sometimes they do their job and get activated by accident," Rickards said.
Both Rickards and Gause say local firefighters are committed to serving the community but they need your help. Both are hosting open houses to show the public what they do and how to join.
Millville Volunteer Fire Company's open house will be Sunday at Station 2 in Frankford from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be safety demonstrations and plenty of other activities for adults and kids.
Lewes Fire Department will host its open house on Thursday, October 21 from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Station 2 next to the Nassau Bridge. Festivities include a smoke house, extrication demos, and equipment displays.