Keeping our communities safe is a full time job, but we still rely on volunteer firefighters to help with that mission across much of New York state. Fielding a volunteer fire company is hard. Volunteers commit hours upon hours to their service and certifications on top of their "normal" lives.

"I hear about it all the time. It's, you know, manpower issues across the state, across the country," said Getzville Fire Company's Lt. David Morales. "I think there's a lot of expectations on volunteer firefighters that weren't necessarily around for our previous generation or generation before that."

Just don't try and complain to Lt. Tim Le.

"If you asked me five years ago if I would ever see myself firefighting, absolutely not," said Le.

He's since had a change of heart and is one of the busiest guys you'll meet.

"Getting my EMT which is something I thought was a resume booster, but ever since then, I really enjoyed what I've been doing," he said.

Le fights fires and administers emergency medical care, but he’s also a full-time grad student learning pharmacology, while working at a pharmacy. Putting the work in, he'd argue, pays off toward any kind of long term goals, especially in the environment of volunteer companies.

"Whether I'd someday be a fire chief or pursue a career in the fire service or applying to medical school. I think this place really has that network of people where they're here to help you," added Le. "They hear they want you to succeed."

Lt. Morales has been answering the call for a decade and while keeping busy, himself and understands what every member brings to the community.

"You know, one of the great things about being a volunteer is that you commit the time that you have when you have it," Morales noted. "Obviously there are requirements you have to make on an annual basis. But if you work unusual hours, so you work overnights, people are still calling 911 at 3pm in the afternoon. People aren't just stopping to call 911 outside of the nine to five or during the nine to five there's going to be emergencies around the clock."

And just ask David or Tim, there's far more than running into burning buildings or getting cats out of trees in the job description.

"You can decide your path," said Le. "You put in what you get out and you do what you want. Whether you really, really enjoy swimming, we have a dive team. You really enjoy that hiking aspect. We have the rope technician you really into that medical background, we have the EMS side."

As they head out on the rig, there are two major components that make volunteering something worth looking into.

"First one is the ambition to learn and the second one is a true passion to help your community," said Le. "The second is a true passion to help in your community."

No matter who you are.

"We will give you the skills to save lives if you're willing to put the effort and the time in," said Morales.

Over the years we’ve seen volunteer firefighting numbers drop to under 100,000 across the state. Gov. Kathy Hochul did bring up finding a way to pay volunteers in the state budget address.