When a fire breaks out in Butler County, chances are it will be a company of volunteer firefighters who rush to the scene to put it out.

Nearly every municipality in the county is serviced by a volunteer fire company. And over the decades these companies have transformed from lightly-trained and equipped groups of volunteers to highly-trained and outfitted companies of firefighters.

Nathan Wulff is the president of the Butler County Fire Chiefs Association and chief of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Company.

“If you look at Butler County as a whole, there's only two paid fire departments,” he said. “Every other department is volunteer.”

Out of the county's 33 fire departments, only the Butler city and the Veterans Affairs fire departments are paid. Across the volunteer departments, Wulff estimated that there are around 660 firefighters in the county.

Today's firefighters are required to attend many hours of training on fire fighting procedures, protocols and how to handle and manage equipment most effectively.

This was not always the case.

“Back in 1968, training requirements were: You showed up, got on a fire truck and learned on the job,” Wulff said.

Today's volunteers need hundreds of hours of training before being qualified to fight a fire.

“Now, you're looking at 150 to 200 hours of training just to start out. And that's just related to fire fighting,” Wulff said. “Me personally, I think I was up to 800 hours when I last calculated it.”

Ron Steele has witnessed the transformation of the fire companies personally.

He joined the Slippery Rock Volunteer Fire Company more than 60 years ago with five of his high school friends.

“Training is a big issue, it's a big issue now. Back then you got in-house training, the older guys taught the younger guys,” he said. “The (new) training is very essential now.”

Steele joined his department in 1957 along with his classmates. His uncle and his father were also involved in the department.

“Youngsters didn't have much to do back then,” Steele said. “We needed younger blood, and it was just an adventure we could do and help the needs of the community.”

Since then Steele has served as the company's president, chief, assistant chief, secretary and has continued to help with fundraising.

The fire companies of today, he says, are very different from how they were 60 years ago.

“Back then we had none of this fancy stuff,” Steele said. “Before we had 911 centers, we had a phone number that rang into the heating plant at (Slippery Rock University) because they were there 24/7.”

The heating staff would then press a button, activating a siren which let volunteers know to check in and see what was going on and how to respond.

“Nowadays you can get it through text messages,” Steele said. “The communications, to me, is one of the biggest things that have happened countywide.”

Modern radios, he explained, can communicate across the county, and often into neighboring counties as well, while 911 centers provide a central location for calls and information.

The gear has changed, with modern firefighters equipped with the latest fireproof materials and breathing apparatus to protect them from flames and smoke.

“When I joined we wore rubber boots, rubber coats, rubber gloves and no breathing apparatus,” Steele said. “I was in the hospital seven times for smoke inhalation.”

However, today's equipment is much more expensive to replace, he said.

Wulff traces many of these transformations back to the 1970s, when a slew of fires led the federal government to look into improving the nation's understanding of fire safety and its ability to fight fires once they start.

“Back in the '70s it was so bad, the federal government actually made a commission to investigate what was the cause of all these fires and what we could do to prevent it,” he said.

Thus the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control was born.

The commission's ensuing investigation led to the publishing of the America Burning report, which recommended, among other things, increased education and training for firefighters, more funding for grants and better equipment.

It also recommended an increased focus on fire safety and prevention education for civilians and led to an increased focus on fire safety in architecture and building design.

“Whatever they did it seemed to have worked,” Wulff said.

While a great deal of progress has been made, volunteer fire companies still are looking for ways to improve and better serve the community.

“We want to foster the mutual goals of the fire departments,” Wulff said. “Funding is always an issue. Many fire departments don't receive any tax dollars at all. Many are fortunate that they do, but some are just having bingos and fish dinners and raising money themselves.”

Departments also apply for state and federal grants, which are often contingent on the amount of training a department's volunteers participate in.

“The other thing is a shortage of volunteers,” Wulff said. “We're looking for a way to reach people to join our ranks. Back in the day I know Unionville had to shut down new membership. We had too many members.”

Today, VFDs have the opposite problem. They struggle to increase their membership.

To help with this, some departments in the county have merged to cover more ground, while working on bringing their volunteer numbers back up.

“I think its an important solution,” Wulff said.

Additionally, in the southern part of the county Adams Area, Callery, Cranberry Township, Evans City Area and Harmony Fire District have teamed up to form the Standard Action For Emergency Response group, or SAFER.

The group shares operational guidelines between departments and assists each other with fires across their districts to minimize redundancies in departments and maximize efficiency and safety.

To volunteer as a firefighter, Wulff said the first step is finding out which department covers your area and then reaching out to sign up.

“You can do that certainly by contacting the chiefs association. Another option would be to contact your municipality,” Wulff said.

Many volunteers may go on to make a career out of firefighting, Steele said.

“I keep telling a lot of our young kids, if you want to do this, go to a paid department,” he said. “I know one guy who's a paid fire captain in Maryland and we got guys in Virginia.”

Not everyone who volunteers has to be willing to run into a burning building, Wulff said. And that's OK.

Fire departments are always looking for people to handle the logistical aspects of running the company.

Many departments typically find themselves in need of accountants, grant writers and other clerically-talented individuals able to raise and keep track of the organizations money.

“We have everything a normal business has, but no one gets paid to deal with those issues,” Wulff said. “No matter your age, gender, background, there's a place for you.”