It s getting harder for rural areas to keep volunteer firefighters Author: Michelle Li Updated: 10:23 PM CDT May 10, 2021
BETHALTO, Ill. No one really thinks of being a firefighter as a hobby, but that s exactly how Jeffrey Bruns sees it. I never see myself unplugged from the fire service, said Bruns. Once you re in it, it s like a lot of hobbies. You re in it for life.
Bruns started his interest in firefighting when he was just 16 and could join an explorer program. At age 18, he became a firefighter. Fast forward more than a decade later, Bruns is working full-time on the railroad and spending roughly 12 or more hours a week at the Bethalto volunteer fire department where he serves as the president of the volunteer board.
Ringering
EDWARDSVILLE The fire departments that responded to a Bethalto fire where Capt. Jake Ringering died when a wall collapsed are suing the homeowner for failing to maintain the property or warn the firefighters of the home s unsafe condition.
Village of Fosterburg, Godfrey Fire Protection District, Village of Bethalto, as statutory subrogees of Ringering, Brian Buhs, Alexander Ocepek, Luke Warner, Christopher Stratton and John Holtorf, filed a complaint March 5 in the Madison County Circuit Court against Roland Bland Living Trust and Roland Bland, alleging negligence and wrongful death.
According to the complaint, Bland owned and maintained a property located at 4064 Culp Lane in Bethalto. The plaintiffs allege that on March 5, 2019, Ringering, Buhs, Ocepek, Warner, Stratton and Holtorf responded to a fire at the defendant s home while in the course of their employment with the Godfrey Fire Protection District, Village of Bethalto and Vi