If there's one thing that Americans can agree on, regardless of political or cultural

divides, it's that firefighters are heroes.

First responders who risk their lives daily to keep our communities and property safe.

We feel an extra debt of gratitude to firefighters who do the job without even being paid.

Just take it from Lisa in New York State.

I had a fire in my fields accidentally started by a person and we called the local fire department

and 12 volunteers showed up and they saved my buildings.

So I'm so grateful to the volunteers.

Thanks for your message, Lisa.

Firefighters not only prevent and extinguish fires, they also handle medical emergencies

and rescue people and property during natural disasters.

And believe it or not, most of them do the job for no pay in the United States.

Those 677,000 unpaid members of their communities serve as the first line of defense, especially

in small towns and rural areas.

But as the number of emergency calls has written steadily over the last 40 years, the number

of volunteers who can respond to those calls has fallen, according to the National Volunteer

Fire Council.

The volunteer fire service is facing a raft of challenges.

Volunteerism is down and the demands on fire and emergency personnel are up.

At the same time, climate change emergencies are becoming more frequent and more dangerous,

especially for first responders.

So what's the future of volunteer firefighting in the face of these challenges and how does

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