Ugh. I did IFSEC national firefighter certification at age 38 and it was brutal. I'm almost 45 now, and I'd have a hard time with it if I didn't have 4 days a week steady training.

The thing that makes me worry is as I drive near my home on rain-slicked roads covered with leaves I realize that the most qualified person for an auto extrication within 12 miles of where I'm driving is ME. They are having more and more 911 runs scratch. In 2007, when I was a member, it was about 15 scratched calls. In 2008, it was 20. I've heard - anecdotally, but I have no reason to doubt the source - that there were 25 incidents this year where the station was dispatched and nobody was around to respond.

Now, between 4 stations there is about $20,000,000 worth of apparatus and equipment sitting in the barn - and nobody to drive/ride/respond. A one-person crew would be a step up.

You want to talk about big taxes, consider the cost for all-hazards response in rural areas if you needed a staff of 12 to 16 to run under 300 calls a year.