Dec. 25--NANTY GLO, PA -- Like so many volunteer firefighters working in small fire companies throughout Cambria and Somerset counties, Richard Paul Brown Sr. is a part of a family tradition. Brown has been with the Nanty Glo Volunteer Fire Department for 50 years.
He has been financial secretary for 30 years.
Brown's dad, Paul Brown, and four uncles were all volunteers in the 1930s and 1940s.
"I had two uncles who were active into their 90s," Brown said. "That's almost unheard of."
Brown's son, Richard Brown Jr., is deputy fire chief in Nanty Glo. Another son, Brian S. Brown, is a firefighter.
Brown said he began his career in the fire service in 1968.
He and four or five friends had just gotten out of the military after serving in Vietnam.
"At that time there was a whole group of us that had just gotten out of the service," he said. "They were hurting for young people in the fire department when we joined."
Much has changed in the fire service over the years. But the one constant is the need for young blood.
"It's hard to get young people to join the department because of the mandatory 240 hours of training that is required by the state," Brown said.
Brown said a state fire official visited Cambria County about a year ago and gave the volunteers some startling statistics.
"He said 10 years earlier there was about 350,000 volunteers in the state of Pennsylvania," Brown recalled.
"Now we're down to about 85,000 in the state."
The continuing decline in volunteerism has forced some fire departments to consolidate and others to close.
"Just getting people to show up and do stuff is really difficult," he said.
His department covers Nanty Glo and Blacklick Township.
Nanty Glo would be unable to maintain a fire department if not for the community support and the dedicated volunteers, Brown said.
"We have great cooperation from the people," he said.
"If it wasn't for their support and the hard work of the volunteers, you wouldn't see a $930,000 truck out here."
When he first joined, the fire department had four pieces of equipment.
Now it has seven to maintain.
"The cost is astronomical," he said. "What it cost to operate a department like this compared to 10 or 15 years ago is really difficult to comprehend," Brown said.
Volunteers keep the department operating. Brown offered a list of some longtime members. Skip Cook and Tom Bracken have each been with the Nanty Glo Fire Department for 51 years. Tom Gabor is a 45-year member.
What keeps them going?
"I guess it's just the love of the fire department," Brown said. "And helping the community."
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