Continuing population declines are impacting Iowa’s smaller communities in many ways — including fire departments. Atlantic Fire Chief Mark McNees is president of the Iowa Firefighters Association. McNees says firefighter recruitment and retention are big challenges facing the state’s smaller towns.
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McNees says one factor hindering recruitment is that most firefighters are volunteers and must juggle responding to fire or medical calls with their regular jobs.
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McNees recently attended a ceremony in Essex, in which nine of the department’s firefighters were honored for 25-plus years of service.