Declining volunteerism, limited resources, and the changing nature of emergency calls all make it harder for volunteer fire departments to do their job in our rural landscape.
But volunteer fire departments across Southwest and Southside Virginia are trying out solutions to bolster the next generation of volunteers, streamline responses amid funding shortages, and ensure they have the best available tools to be there when their communities need them.
Cardinal News is shining a light on what’s going right — and how communities across our region can learn from it.
Reporting only on “bad news” does not accurately reflect our communities. We want to showcase how people are responding to their community’s problems, too.
Listen to reporter Emma Malinak talk about this project on RadioIQ
The Latest Stories
Paramedics are helping patients manage illnesses, connect with services and avoid calling 911. But these programs can be tough to sustain in rural areas.
Community paramedicine can free up ambulance crews to respond to true emergencies. But volunteer EMS agencies may lack the resources to create such offerings.
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In Norton, drafting government workers for firefighting is filling a need
The city’s fire department needed a way to fill its ranks.
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Funding for Virginia’s fire service is insufficient, studies show. There are ideas for how to change that.
Here’s a guide to how fire departments are funded in Virginia, in eight FAQs gathered from Cardinal readers.
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Equipment donations from Northern Virginia are making a difference at Southwest fire departments
Minimal state funding for fire and emergency services in Virginia means rural localities must rely on grants and donations.
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Youth rescue camp aims to inspire Virginia’s next generation of first responders
More than 40 kids attended last month’s camp, which is part of the Virginia Association of First Responders’ efforts to bolster fire and rescue recruitment efforts.
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As firefighters in Southwest and Southside spend most of their time responding to EMS calls, training evolves
The issue was featured during a recent statewide first responder symposium in Blacksburg.
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Training tomorrow’s first responders: How Rockbridge County is trying to build an EMS and firefighting pipeline in high school
As communities across Virginia struggle to recruit and retain emergency responders, some rural counties are targeting students before they graduate.
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Cardinal News looks for solutions to volunteer emergency response system’s challenges
Volunteers are the backbone of rural Virginia’s fire and EMS response, and we’ll be amplifying their stories from now through December.
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What you told us
To kick off the project, we asked readers across Southwest and Southside Virginia what questions and thoughts they had about volunteer fire departments in their community. We also surveyed volunteer firefighters to hear what was most important to them. We learned:
- Volunteer emergency responders are determined to remain as the backbone of rural public safety in the face of burnout, limited funds and resources and recruitment challenges.
- Rural Virginians worry that an aging and shrinking volunteer base in a seemingly disconnected network of departments isn’t strong enough to save them when an emergency strikes.
- Volunteers often feel misunderstood by their neighbors, and neighbors have unanswered questions for their volunteers.
Cardinal News wants to close that gap.
If people believe volunteer fire departments are disappearing or being replaced, they may be less likely to join. In reality, volunteers remain a crucial part of emergency response, especially in rural areas.
Cody W.
Our mission
Cardinal News, an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization, exists to report the untold stories of Southwest and Southside Virginia, and strengthen the voices of the people in our communities who have been sidelined in the commonwealth’s political, economic and cultural conversations simply because of where they live.
That’s why we want to uplift the stories of rural communities working to figure out solutions to complex problems. Expect several stories between now and the end of the year from across our region where we pass the mic to folks on the ground who refuse to stand by and do nothing.
This work is supported by the Solutions Journalism Network, which trains reporters to go beyond a feel-good story and vet innovations in real-time.
Meet the reporters leading this project:
Emma Malinak joined Cardinal News in July 2025 as our Lynchburg reporter through Report for America, a national service program that seeks to strengthen local news in communities that need it most. She is a recent graduate of Washington and Lee University and grew up in rural southwestern Pennsylvania. Email her at emma@cardinalnews.org.
Grace Mamon is a Virginia native who grew up in Fredericksburg and studied journalism at Washington & Lee University. She has been covering the City of Danville and Pittsylvania County for Cardinal News since 2022. She devotes particular attention to the economic rebirth of the Danville-Pittsylvania area, also reporting on its history and culture. Email her at grace@cardinalnews.org.
Join us
If you want to see more of this kind of reporting, you can support us in several ways:
