Columbia Falls Fire Chief Rick Hagen, right, and Evergreen Fire Chief Craig Williams at the scene of a fully involved structure fire on Thursday afternoon, May 14, on Brunner Road southwest of Columbia Falls.(Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)
September 23, 2018
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September 23, 2018 4 a.m.
Volunteer firefighters are vital for rural areas, but their numbers are on the decline
Rural communities like those scattered across the Flathead have relied for decades on volunteer firefighters and paramedics, who train for hundreds of hours and risk their lives for others.