Odd Hours. No Pay. Cool Hat.: Film celebrates volunteer firefighters

In the trailer to the film “Odd Hours. Cool Hat. No Pay,” a woman says, “They handed me a piece of paper and said, ‘fill this out. We have a meeting Wednesday night.’ My husband said, ‘where have you been?’ I said, ‘I think I joined the fire department.’”

That’s exactly the response the Polson Fire Department hopes to get when they screen the free documentary at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Feb. 6 at Showboat Cinemas. In fact, that’s the response that all volunteer fire departments aspire to – film or no film.

Polson Fire Chief Clint Cottle says Polson, like every other fire department in Lake County, counts on volunteers to quench fires of all sizes. Unfortunately, “over the years volunteerism in any aspect has declined. So we decided awhile back that we can’t continue doing business the same way we’ve been doing business – and that’s just waiting for them to walk in the door.”

The department has two fulltime employees, Chief Cottle and Assistant Chief Kevin Straub, who also serves as the city’s fire marshal and fire inspector. Their ability to respond to more than 400 calls a year ideally relies on a cadre of around 30 trained volunteers. But those numbers have dwindled in recent years, dropping as low as 22.

The documentary offers a close-up look at “what it's like to be a volunteer and how volunteer fire departments fit within a community,” Cottle says. The producers offer the film free as a recruitment tool, and Gary and Becky Dupuis, owners of Showboat Cinemas, “have been gracious enough to let us screen it.”

Cottle hopes the film will educate the public “on what the role of the volunteer fire department is in our community. And then, too, hopefully we can garner a volunteer or two out of it.”

Firefighters will be on hand to answer questions and, weather permitting, offer gear demonstrations and tours of a fire truck. Plus, the film opens with a Polson-specific short, featuring the chief and volunteers in “city-specific footage.”

Polson City Manager and volunteer fireman Ed Meece is among those who “caught the bug” after moving to Polson a few years ago.

“I really enjoy working around this group of people,” he said. “For me it's an opportunity to do public service and I just go work. I don't have to be in decision mode or command mode or anything like that. I can just go drag hose and open a hydrant or show up on a QRU (Quick Response Unit) call and be helpful.”

According to Cottle, the current crop of 28 volunteers includes people of all ages, skill levels and backgrounds, with about 25% of the force comprised of women. About half have some medical training, from Emergency Medical Responders to paramedics.  

“Most of them work full-time jobs or own their own business or we have a few retired people,” he says.

For Meece, this opportunity to interact with a diverse group of people, all engaged in a constructive pursuit, is part of the appeal. “There's builders, there's teachers, there's IT directors and city managers and retired firefighters from California – it's just a very mixed group of people, with mixed geographies and mixed ethnicities,” he says. “It’s similar to being on an athletic team, where you train and you practice and you get to know people in that type of an intense setting and then you go out and do it. Yeah. It's just really fun.”

Of the 405 calls the department responded to in 2023, nearly 160 were for medical backup offered by the Quick Response Unit – a team of two or three people that supports the local ambulance service in more critical medical emergencies. Both Cottle and Straub are paramedics, and at least one of them typically responds to a QRU call, along with a couple of volunteers. Meece or the city’s IT director, Adam Reed, often show up since they work next door to the fire station.

While those calls are typically short, an actual house fire represents a much more time-consuming commitment. And while the most dangerous work falls to the well-trained “interior firefighters,” those who actually enter burning buildings, there are “lots of other auxiliary jobs that almost anybody can do,” says Cottle.

Those tasks might include helping firefighters when they emerge from a building by making sure they have water, rest, and a fresh supply of oxygen.

Recruit Requirements

Recruits are required to take a physical “just to make sure they’re fit enough to participate.” Volunteers are expected to attend at least 20 department trainings a year (from among the 40-50 offered annually), including the option to take a 16-hour course offered by the State Department of Natural Resources and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to earn basic wildfire certification.

They’re also asked to respond to at least 20% of the calls. “However, we can't dictate when the calls happen and when people are available, so we find it hard to make that a rule,” says Cottle. “But we encourage – if you're going to be on the fire department, you should probably want to respond to calls.”

And those calls aren’t always for structure fires. The department could be summoned to check out a fire alarm that’s gone off or help an elderly person change batteries on their chirping smoke alarm or “rescue a cat out of a tree – although we don't do that a lot anymore.” The fire department also participates in community activities, including parades, lighting the town tree, collecting donations during the annual food and coat drive, and interacting with school children during Fire Prevention Week.   

The department also has an “automatic aid agreement” with Polson Rural Fire to respond to all structure fires within the two jurisdictions. “We very much depend on each other,” Cottle says.

The Polson Fire Department also can respond to, or request help from, outlying departments such as Ronan, Finley Point or Chief Cliff under a mutual aid agreement.

Polson, with around 5,200 people, may at some point need a department of professional firefighters. But both Cottle and Meece believe that’s down the road. Meece suspects it would cost at least $1 million a year to launch and maintain a department, especially since fire equipment is very expensive, and around-the-clock coverage would require around 15 paid firefighters – akin to Polson Police Department staffing.

Since funding police and fire services comes out of the general fund, which is fueled by property taxes, “that would be a very, very big step,” Meece said.

For the foreseeable future, the department will continue to count on its steadfast local volunteers, who meet at 6:30 p.m. on the first, second and third Tuesday of each month, and get paid $200 biannually for their efforts.

Curious about how to become a member, but can’t make the movie? “Just come to a month or two of trainings or truck-check night, get to know the folks and see if it’s a good fit,” advises Meece. “That’s what got me involved.”

As a volunteer in the film notes, “We have to protect our communities, because if we don't, who will?”

Plus, you get to wear those cool hats.

    Polson firefighter Chris McGuinness joined crews from three departments who responded to a structure fire last February at the former Jolly Pack Rat on Hwy. 93. (JP Edge/Hungry Horse News)