Cardinal Conversation: Fire department recruits college students amid increasing emergency calls

RADIO IQ | By Fred Echols

Published October 5, 2026 at 4:29 AM EDT

In recent years, volunteer fire departments have had trouble attracting enough volunteers to handle increasing numbers of emergency calls.

But one Virginia department seems to have found a new source of volunteers to fill out its roster.

Cardinal News reporter Erick Solorzano covered this story and he spoke with Fred Echols.

Cardinal News is a non-profit, online, independent news organization covering Southwest and Southside Virginia.