Fire departments in small towns across the state continue to have issues with finding enough volunteers to fill open spots. Parkersburg Fire Chief Russ Boersma says his department is authorized for 35 firefighters, and they only have 19.

Another challenge is the age of equipment and the cost to replace it. The chief says for example, they need to replace the oxygen tanks and masks they use when fighting fires.

There are about 850 fire departments in Iowa, and of those, 92 percent are volunteer departments.