BROWN COUNTY, Ind. — Near historic Nashville, Indiana, where time seems to stand still, Mike Morris' mission is to beat the clock. He’s a volunteer firefighter. He’s also 71 years old.
"I'm old!” Morris chuckled. “I shouldn't be doing this, but I’m the only one available during the day.”
Morris is still volunteering, he says, because too few others are.
"A lot of times, we've got one guy rolling on a truck. That is not the way it should be,” said Morris, chief of the Southern Brown County Volunteer Fire Department.
Their territory includes half of Brown County State Park, one of Indiana's most popular spots to hike, bike and camp.
Like other small, rural volunteer fire departments, finding people willing to wear the boots, get trained and certified and then respond to emergency calls in today's world is proving tougher than ever.
“I think because everybody's so busy, it's harder,” Morris said. "Terribly hard."
Nationwide since the 1980s, the number of calls for help has tripled, while the number of volunteers has dwindled, recently reaching historic lows.
The National Fire Protection Association says it's largely due to increased time demands, tougher training requirements and an increase in the number of two-income families whose members simply don't have time to volunteer.
"In today's society, we’ve got so many things going on, and to give back to that community spirit of providing a service for free … is tough to get to,” said Larry Curl, with the Indiana Volunteer Firefighter's Association.
That's especially critical because Curl says most communities in Indiana are served by the state's 850 volunteer fire departments. All of them will tell you they're operating on shoestring budgets, and fish fries aren't cutting it anymore.
Morris' department operates on $24,000 per year.
"Twenty-four thousand dollars isn't even fuel!" Morris said.
And gear is more expensive than ever.
“When I came on the department, I had three guys that would show up at a fire and didn't even have boots to wear," Morris said. "They'd be in their tennis shoes."
After years of sounding the alarm, help came this year from state leaders. Lawmakers approved $10 million in first-of-its-kind grant money to buy life-saving equipment for the 66 poorest fire departments across the state and those with the oldest equipment.
For Morris' crew, that meant more than a dozen air masks, helmets and boots.
And more help came this summer when the state announced plans to add 15 training centers across Indiana to make it more convenient to be a volunteer. With the additional locations, advocates say most won't have to drive more than 40 minutes from home.
The hope now is for more men and women to be as motivated as Morris to volunteer for their community … so he can someday retire.
"I enjoy helping people,” Morris said. “And to see what good this department can do in the community is very heartwarming, very rewarding and it's worthwhile — even for old guys like me."