By Darrell Kirk
Sounder contributor
When Benjamin Franklin founded America’s first volunteer fire company in December 1736, he had no idea he was starting a tradition that would define community service for centuries to come. The Union Fire Company in Philadelphia was such an immediate success that when membership reached 30, Franklin had to turn volunteers away and encourage them to start their own brigades instead. Nearly 300 years later, that same spirit of civic duty burns bright on Orcas Island, where volunteers remain the backbone of fire protection across the San Juan archipelago.
Today on Orcas Island, that founding vision continues through a fire district that operates seven stations spread across the island’s challenging geography. From Deer Harbor to Doe Bay, from West Sound to Rosario, volunteer firefighters form the essential network that makes protection possible across 57 square miles of territory.
The numbers tell part of the story. Nationwide, volunteers comprise 65% of all firefighters and staff 91% of fire departments, according to the National Fire Protection Association. On Orcas, that percentage runs even higher, with volunteers making up 70-85% of the fire district’s personnel. While the main station in Eastsound maintains two paid staff around the clock, volunteers fill the critical gaps across the island’s outlying areas.
“You could staff this station with as many people as you wanted, but being in Eastsound, your response times to Spring Point or to Point Lawrence or Doe Bay are quite long, and that’s where the volunteers are really necessary,” explains Buddy Wright, a volunteer firefighter with Orcas Island Fire and Rescue. “They live out there. They’re out there in the evenings. They’re sleeping at their homes. So they can respond and be on scene much faster than anybody coming from Station 21.”
During a recent Orcas Island Fire and Rescue Town Hall, Chief Chad Kimple noted, “The reality of geography makes volunteers indispensable. When multiple 911 calls come in simultaneously—which happens 15 to 30 percent of the time—the district relies on volunteers to meet demand. Last summer, six active emergency calls required response at the same time, pushing both paid staff and volunteers to their limits.”
But the island’s volunteer needs extend far beyond the obvious roles of firefighters and EMTs. “One of the really important parts of Orcas Island Fire and Rescue is our auxiliary division,” says Ben Luna, the department’s public relations officer. “They are the ones who provide us with food and drink and water and nourishment, essentially during long fire calls. It’s a small thing, it seems like, but it actually is our fuel that keeps us going and we are indebted to them totally for helping out with that sort of thing.”
“We’ve got volunteers from all walks of life that come to help serve,” notes Fire Commissioner Brian Ehrmantraut. “We’ve got very skilled paramedics and very skilled firefighters on staff. It’s a great group of folks that are here serving the community.”
The commitment required is substantial. Fire academy training runs every weekend for approximately three months starting each January, demanding Saturday, Sunday and Thursday evening attendance for 13 consecutive weeks. It’s a significant ask in an era when volunteer recruitment challenges fire departments nationwide.
Orcas Island resident Bob Phalan was a volunteer with Orcas Fire for 17 years. “If you don’t have time to give to it you probably shouldn’t join. It’s a big commitment. But, if you have the time you should join. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.”
Yet volunteers persist because the work matters in ways both practical and profound. On an island where everyone knows everyone, firefighters regularly respond to emergencies involving friends, neighbors and their families. One volunteer recalls the most impactful call of his career: a fatality accident involving people whose children he knew personally. “There aren’t very many calls that go out where there isn’t somebody in the fire department that doesn’t personally know the people that we’re interacting with,” he reflects. This intimacy with community transforms abstract duty into personal commitment.
The district is actively seeking new volunteers and all ages are encouraged to apply. Training prepares volunteers not just for structural firefighting but for technical rope rescue, wildland fire response and high-level emergency medical care. The cadet program introduces high school students to fire service, creating pathways for the next generation.
What makes someone drive to the fire station in the middle of the night, leaving warm beds and family dinners to rush into dangerous situations? The answer echoes across nearly three centuries of American volunteer service. Whether hauling leather buckets through 1736 Philadelphia or climbing into modern fire engines on Orcas Island, volunteers share Franklin’s fundamental recognition: We protect each other because we are neighbors, because we are community, because when bad things happen, someone must answer the call.
On Orcas Island, that someone is still the volunteer firefighter — the foundation upon which all fire protection depends. Franklin would recognize the spirit if not the technology, understanding that some things remain constant across time: Communities thrive when citizens serve, and the best protection comes from neighbors helping neighbors.
The fire district continues recruiting volunteers for its next academy. In Ben Franklin’s tradition, no prior experience is necessary — just willingness to learn, commitment to serve and recognition that community safety depends on those willing to step forward when others need help.
