CALLING VOLUNTEERS: Altoona EMS needs your help

Friday, April 17, 2015
Josh Spreiter, Multimedia Journalist, WEAU

ALTOONA, Wis. (WEAU)-- As we first told you back in December, the City of Altoona was down more than a dozen volunteer firefighters. Thanks to an advertising campaign, some of those spots are now filled, but they still need more people.

"We got a fair amount of applications but the net was a little too wide so a lot of those people didn't make the criteria based on how far they lived away from the city. We are allowed 45 firefighters. We were down to 26 when we started that," says Deputy Chief Troy Stoneberg.

Since their initial efforts, they've gained five new people to the department. In the future the department hopes to get back to full staff of 45, and a new electronic billboard is helping the cause.

"It's sort of the new thing. It's very eye-grabbing. It's in a high volume area, but still a high number of people in our districts travel those roads where the electronic billboards are," says Stoneberg.

All of the advertising efforts called Josh Rave's attention. He's been a part of the fire department for two and half months now. Rave has spent much of his life in Australia, and growing up around firefighting, he knew it was something he always wanted to be a part of.

"To wave at little kids when you drive past in the firetruck, to fighting intense wild fires, it's about belonging to something and being a part of a team and doing something worthwhile," said Rave.

Rave says it's one of the best opportunities he's taken.

"Everyone here is so polite and all of the officers were just really nice. It's a community within a community and it was fun to become part of it," said Rave.

"We are entry level. You don't need any experience to come here. We'll pay for your training to go the technical college and become a fully certified firefighter," said Stoneberg.

Another important thing to note, you don't have to live within Altoona city limits. Stoneberg says there are many people on the department that live in Eau Claire and also the Town of Washington.

If you would like to volunteer, stop by the department during their regular business hours Monday through Friday.

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