Mutual Aid in action / Glass Fire / Photo: Sashwa Burrous / 2020
Our Mission
The Volunteer Fire Foundation exists to support critically underfunded volunteer firefighters from recruitment to retirement in Sonoma County and beyond.
Goal One: Learn
Sonoma County is vast and its volunteer fire programs have wildly different needs. As a new organization, our immediate goal is to establish and deepen relationships with members of these programs, as well as corporate and community partners who share our commitment to support them.
Goal Two: Implement
This is where we move the needle. Once adequately funded, we’ll assist volunteer fire programs with recruitment and grantwriting, subsidize firefighter trainings, provide access to emotional and physical wellness support, and offer fund-a-need style grants.
Goal Three: Expand
Sonoma County is home, so this is where our work begins. But once established, our goal is to apply this model to surrounding counties and beyond. We want to empower communities across the country to adopt the needs of their volunteer firefighters as their own.
Fact: Volunteer firefighters save American taxpayers nearly $140 billion annually and another $450 billion in lower insurance premiums.*
*National Fire Protection Agency
Why support volunteer firefighters?
Volunteer fire service is a historic and essential component of emergency and disaster response in the United States. Nearly 70 percent of all firefighters are volunteers and 85 percent of all firehouses are entirely or mostly volunteer – but these numbers are dwindling.
The version of American society that supports a volunteer fire service is fading, even as their call volumes have tripled in recent years. Volunteer and career firefighters are required to complete the same training. They answer the same dispatch calls and fight the same catastrophic fires.
But too many volunteers do it in outdated rigs with compromised gear because the funds they raise with an annual pancake breakfast don’t make a dent in their list of needs and, for all their talents, they’re not great at asking for help.
We believe most communities would jump at the chance to help their heroes, if only they knew how.
That’s where we come in.