The American writer Kurt Vonnegut once said: "I can think of no more stirring symbol of man's humanity to man than a fire engine."

Ted Williams, a sports hero to several generations of baseball fans, once said if he had a higher calling in life it was to be a fireman because "it sure beats being a ballplayer."Benjamin Franklin, a Founding Father and one of America's greatest citizens, was a volunteer firefighter.Growing up in the 1950s and '60s, we considered our volunteer firefighters to be bigger than life.Today, knowing how much the unpaid volunteers sacrifice, we value their service even more.Unfortunately, their ranks are getting thin in many areas.According to the National Fire Protection Association, of the more than 1.1 million firefighters in the U.S. in 2012, about 69 percent of them were volunteers. Ninety-five percent served communities of fewer than 25,000 people.The decline in volunteer firefighters within Pennsylvania's 67 counties has been dramatic.In the 1970s, Pennsylvania had about 300,000 volunteer firefighters. The number fell to about 70,000 in the 1990s and today, there are between 50,000 and 60,000 volunteers statewide.The shortages have led to to alliances between neighboring departments.There are a number of reasons why their ranks have thinned to about one-fifth of what it was in 1977. Time constraints on families trying to make it through a stagnant or struggling economy are big factors.With two parents required to work, there are just not enough hours left in the day to be a volunteer. The time volunteer firefighters commit to training alone is substantial.To help fill the ranks, State Sen. Sean Wiley, an Erie County Democrat, and Sen. Lisa Baker, a Luzerne County Republican, have co-sponsored a bill to allow municipalities to waive the earned income tax for volunteer firefighters and EMTs.It's unimaginable to think of our volunteer firefighters fading away, much like our once thriving downtown shopping districts have disappeared.Thankfully, many downtown areas have been revitalized and saved thanks to visionaries and solid community initiatives.Now it's our volunteer firefighters who need a boost. Forward thinkers like Sens. Wiley and Baker in our state Legislature are certainly trying to make it happen, and their tax incentive is a step forward.Baker said it best in a prepared statement outlining the bill: "Many Pennsylvanians do not realize that 96 percent of our firefighters are not paid for jumping out of bed in the middle of the night to fight a fire or run to the scene of an accident."A worst-case scenario is failing to recognize the importance of their vital service to the community and not having enough volunteers to respond to a frantic 911 call.By JIM ZBICKtneditor@tnonline.com