Press Release:

Please read below regarding some positive changes for MTVFD. Feel free to ask any questions and we will do our best to answer!

3/31/2021:

The leadership and members of Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Department are always striving to progress and serve the community better. Over the past year, we have made some changes that will provide a more effective and efficient service to you, our neighbors and community.

Since 1949, MTVFD has been an all-volunteer organization. It’s quite literally in our name, and embedded on the front of our headquarters: MTVFD - Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Department. For over 70 years, dedicated volunteers have served selflessly to provide fire, EMS and rescue service to Monroe Township and surrounding areas, as well as special events such as the Crusade for Children, the Henryville parade, school tours and visits, fire prevention and community outreach. During the time of our existence, hundreds of members have come and gone, as lives change, people move away, retire, or pass from this life. We currently have active members that have been here since the 1970’s, all the way up to new members that have been with us for just a year or more. The Volunteer fire service is a foundation of the community; one of the oldest and most sacred pillars of every small town and community in America. But as with almost everything, some things change and evolve with time. As seen in national studies, participation in the volunteer fire service has declined rapidly. As society changes, the volunteer fire service has suffered. Time available for volunteering has dwindled. The state requirements for training has increased dramatically; the time to complete all classes, drills and testing for a Firefighter I/II class is now equivalent to a semester of college.

Due to all of these factors and more, the availability of volunteer firefighters 24/7 has proven to be unsustainable.

Therefore, in order to assure adequate fire and EMS service for the citizens of Monroe Township, the leadership of MTVFD have implemented a full-time, paid crew from Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm. This ensures that during normal working hours when many of our volunteers are unavailable due to their regular jobs, we still have a crew on-station to respond to your calls for help.

Additionally, we have partnered with

New Chapel EMS

to provide an ambulance and crew in our station, during the same hours of 8-5, Monday-Friday.

New Chapel is providing the ambulance and one EMT crew member; MTVFD is providing the second crew member.

After 5pm, New Chapel will still respond as usual, but the crew will be coming from elsewhere in the county. MTVFD First Responders/EMT’s will still respond as usual when dispatched.

For our regular paid daytime crew of 2, we have purchased a fast-attack, all-purpose truck to be utilized by the on-duty crew. Rescue 21 is a Dodge/Ram 5500 4x4 Cummins 6.7 Diesel with a utility bed. It is equipped with a water and foam tank, a pump and hose lines, SCBA’s, EMS equipment, LED scene lighting, chainsaws, cribbing, hand tools and a variety of other equipment. Our paid duty crew can utilize this truck for daytime responses and handle the majority of regular calls for service in a fast and efficient manner.

As always, volunteers will still respond whenever available. Volunteer responders will supplement the paid crew during the daytime hours, and respond as-usual after hours and at night time.

We hope that this progressive and forward-thinking approach will ensure that the citizens of Monroe Township always have the level of service that MTVD has provided over the last 72 years.

As always, our motto is “At Your Service since 1949” and we are here to serve you. Thank you for your support!P