I am very fortunate to live in a small city (20,000) that has had an outstanding volunteer fire department for many years. The department is in the process of transitioning to a full time paid department. While our department is very well equipped and its members well trained, I know that is not the case in many rural volunteer departments. Several volunteer departments have discontinued service because their equipment is so old and broken down that it is dangerous. Many residents of these areas refuse (or cannot afford) to pay the annual "fire dues" that fund the department. I suspect most of those good folks would easily come up with the money if their house were actually on fire! It is sad that volunteers are willing to do the work, face the risks, and help raise money, but there is little community support for what they do. The increase in their homeowner's insurance premiums would easily help fund these small departments.