If you dial 911, it is more than likely a volunteer firefighter will respond to your emergency, but in Maine, there are not enough volunteers for this important work.

More than 70% of the 338 fire departments in the Pine Tree State are volunteer-run, and rarely do they fight actual fires. Most calls are for medical emergencies, but they also respond to floods, car accidents and even hazardous waste spills.

As climate change brings more extreme weather, firefighters can spend days or even weeks in rescue and recovery efforts.

Dylan Cyr, vice president of the Aroostook North Fire Departments, said communities face an unfortunate reality.

"There's going to come a day that nobody's coming," Cyr stressed. "We're getting more and more calls, and less and less people to run those calls."

Cyr pointed out his departments have responded to more than 3,000 medical calls this year, and about 300 fire-related calls. He noted many departments still rely on word-of-mouth to recruit volunteers, but they are also increasing their social media presence and working to interest high school students, who might consider a two-year certification program rather than leaving town to get a four-year college degree.

The amount of training required to become a volunteer firefighter and maintain the certification prohibits many people from signing up. Some local governments offer volunteers a financial stipend for their training hours or on-call hours.

Sarah Lee, CEO of the National Volunteer Fire Council, said incentives like this are needed, as the lack of volunteers forces many departments to pool their resources and cover larger geographic areas.

"A lot of these small, rural communities are relying on volunteers to respond, and if they don't have enough people, then the response time is going to be even longer," Lee emphasized. "It's really important that they get people that want to step up and give back to their community."

The Maine Fire Chiefs Association is backing a Length of Service Award Program to reward career firefighters for their contributions, but it hasn't been fully funded by the state.

The nomination process is open for a prestigious award handed out to volunteers in Oregon each year. The Andrus Award for Community Service award is named after AARP founder, Doctor Ethel Percy Andrus. AARP Oregon will select a person or couple age 50 or older, who performs services without pay in their communities.

AARP State volunteer president for Oregon, Michael Schultz, said he has spent his whole career with nonprofit organizations and that these organizations rely on volunteers.

"Our communities, our state, our country just would not be as in good of shape without the service of volunteers doing what they do to help organizations carry out their mission and vision," he said.

The deadline for nominations is July 15th. In 2021, more than 970,000 Oregonians volunteered and contributed $2.6-billion in economic value to the state, according to AmeriCorps.

Schultz said 2022 Oregon Andrus Award winner Kathy Goeddel was part of AARP's program helping people do their taxes for nearly three decades.

"Kathy led the program as a volunteer for years, was involved with recruiting, training, onboarding and supporting tax aide volunteers throughout the state of Oregon." Schultz said. "So we were most honored to be able to give Kathy that award."

Schultz noted nominees do not have to be AARP members, and for the first time, the nominator and the recipient will each get $1,000 to donate to the nonprofit of their choice.

Public libraries are known for their quiet settings, but in the coming days, staff leaders in South Dakota and elsewhere will be vocal about the threat library systems around the country are facing, in calls for book bans.

Monday, April 24 has been designated Right to Read Day by the American Library Association. It marks the anniversary of the group's Unite Against Book Bans campaign.

Daniel Burniston, director of the Vermillion Public Library, said creating awareness about the freedom to read is especially important as the censorship movement shows no clear signs of slowing down.

"When we start heading down a road of censorship, you know, is where we start eroding those core tenets of democracy," Burniston outlined. "The First Amendment, free speech and people's right to access, read and review materials that are important to them, or that they simply want to learn more about."

The American Library Association recently announced 2022 saw a record number of demands to censor library books and materials. Fueled by right-wing activists, most titles the groups target were written by or about members of the LGBTQ community and people of color. Separately, this session of the South Dakota Legislature saw a failed attempt to prohibit library materials deemed obscene.

Groups behind recent book ban attempts often cite the need to protect children. Burniston acknowledged his location has not encountered any such hostility, but he reminded people libraries like his have adequate policies in place for concerned parents to navigate. At the end of the day, he argued what to read is a decision households can make on their own.

"You should help your children select reading materials that, as a parent, fit with your family's beliefs," Burniston suggested. "But that does not mean, by extension, we should necessarily be telling another family or another parent what is right or wrong for their children."

Burniston added the attempt to undermine libraries comes as these facilities keep evolving into a vital community resource.

"Now, we have public access computers, we've got internet access, copying, faxing," Burniston outlined. "We offer programs for all ages, from birth through adults."

As part of "Right to Read Day," the American Library Association recommended several actions for supporters, including borrowing a book at risk of being banned.


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North Dakota is no stranger to spring floods, but after several late winter bursts, rapid snowmelt has led to heightened concerns about rivers swelling, and forecasters have some advice for residents of high-risk areas.

The National Weather Service said overland flooding and river flooding have really started to pick up in the eastern half of the state, especially in the Red River Valley.

Jim Kaiser, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Grand Forks, said an extended period of deep snow paved the way for problems once temperatures started to warm up.

"After all that snow, we had a lot of closed, clogged ditches and drains," Kaiser observed. "The river system took a long time for that meltwater to open things up."

Kaiser noted FEMA has maps posted online to help determine whether you live in a floodplain. He added transportation departments also post road closures and information about where flooding is occurring.

State leaders urged people to plan ahead and identify the fastest way to higher ground if the threat becomes more imminent in their area.

Kaiser emphasized a watchful eye from residents can be helpful in monitoring rising water levels and reporting if anything stands out.

"You see water that sits or moves in a certain way on the lay of the land and all of a sudden, it's doing something a little different," Kaiser suggested. "Maybe it's not moving, right, when it typically does at those levels? That's the sign of an ice jam, or, you know, something's clogging the system."

He stressed if you see something unusual, contacting local authorities can make a difference in warning the public about what is happening. The weather service noted flood risk is above long-term historical averages across the mainstream Red River and sections of southeastern North Dakota.


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