A deadly August crash in Shokan got Melissa McHugh thinking about the people who respond to emergencies. Like many of the fire departments in the Hudson Valley, every one of the 74 firefighters servicing Olive is a volunteer.

“I had been thinking about how horrible and how draining it must be for these guys to come upon a scene like that, and how they process it and constantly being in demand,” said McHugh, director of the Olive Free Library. “I just thought, we’ve got to do something.”

The library and the Olive Fire Department will sell hamburgers and hot dogs, screen the documentary “Odd Hours, No Pay, Cool Hat,” and host a panel discussion at Onteora Middle/High School on Thursday, Sept. 24, starting at 6 p.m.

The film follows volunteer firefighters across the country as they respond to calls ranging from rescuing donkeys to saving their neighbors’ lives. It also examines fire department deserts, where the nearest fire service can be 40 miles away.

Its subjects include Barbara, a grandmother and emergency medical technician; Madely, a teenage Salvadoran immigrant; and Jaime, who was rescued by volunteer firefighters and later became one. Settings range from California’s wildfire country to a small Nebraska farming community and an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in New York.

“It’s very stressful. People look at us and say, why do you do this? I love helping the community. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and something I’ve done since the time I turned 16 years old,” said Olive Fire Chief Chris Winne, whose family has three generations in the department and whose grandfather sat on its founding board of directors.

Winne and several of the department’s captains will take questions during the panel, and Winne said he plans to highlight the dwindling number of volunteers.

“The problem is, the days of volunteering are declining rapidly,” Winne said.

Many emergency medical services agencies have switched to paid staff because of the shortage, he said.

“In the fire service world, we’re hurting for membership,” he added.

Winne was speaking about the fire service as a whole. Olive’s ranks are strong, he said, though smaller than they once were.

Winne said the Olive department hasn’t considered paying its firefighters because the effect on local taxes would be “astronomical.”

The department is a separate entity that contracts its services to the town. Every three years it submits a contract with its projected costs, which can be hard to estimate given inflation and the expense of outfitting new members.

Turnout gear, the heavy protective clothing firefighters wear on calls, costs $6,000 per volunteer. Each air pack, which lets firefighters breathe inside smoke-filled buildings, costs another $12,000 to $14,000.

The cost of “apparatus,” the fire service’s term for trucks and other equipment, is rising across New York and the country, Winne said.

It’s difficult to balance budgets, replace trucks, and stay in compliance, he said. Turnout gear is supposed to be replaced every 10 years; replacing it for all 74 volunteers would cost $444,000.

The Olive Fire Department is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that accepts donations and applies for grants to offset costs. Some firefighters, including Winne, earn their living working full time for the town highway department.

About 20 years ago, town residents approved a length of service award program. Volunteers who reach age 62 with more than 20 years of meeting attendance and participation requirements receive $400 a month; that works out to $20 for each qualifying year.

“The physical side of it, it’s very demanding,” Winne said. “Mentally, we see everything, you know? We see dead bodies, we see people emotionally hurt, physically hurt. People lose everything that they own. And, they’re our neighbors. They’re our community.”

The Olive department has fewer members than in years past, though it doesn’t struggle to fill its ranks, thanks largely to its junior explorer program. Nationwide, volunteer numbers are falling while call volumes rise, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

The program trains children ages 13 to 16. Members can’t respond to fire calls; at 16, they can join the department.

The program has high retention and brings in an average of two new members a year, Winne said. Ulster County has started a similar effort, the Ulster County Firefighter Discovery Program, based in Kingston.

“My level of dedication to this town is huge, but I have a lot of members with a dedication level of mine to this department,” Winne said. “And that’s what makes this work.”

Visitors have gotten stuck in the library’s elevator a handful of times, and each time firefighters arrived in under 10 minutes, McHugh said.

“These guys have to go there and they give up their time, their everything, just for no pay, no anything,” McHugh said. “And thank goodness we have it because, how long would we have to wait? How long would people have to wait for help?”

Mia Quick is an editorial assistant at The Overlook. Send correspondence to mia@theoverlooknews.com.