Retailers, truckers and the working class aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch these days when they fuel up their gas tanks.

Local volunteer fire companies have also had to cope with the skyrocketing gas prices and agree it’s been a real challenge.

Palmerton Fire Department Chief Jason Behler said his department is allotted a budget through the borough.

“Realistically, we just have to deal with it,” Behler said. “I just have to become more creative in different areas to absorb the additional costs; it may mean giving up some things. In the end, we don’t have much of a choice.”

Behler noted the current landscape “is also a time when (fire departments) are receiving more calls when people are desperate and in need.”

“It’s a challenging time for everybody, and when people are in their homes and are faced with heating their home or fueling their car or putting food on the table, sometimes people do desperate things to heat their home,” he said. “(It’s important to) make sure people are being safe when they’re doing something alternative for heating their home.”

Regardless, Behler said it isn’t something that should be taken lightly.

“I think one of biggest things people take for granted is first responders are paying that much more in their cars,” he said. “And they’re still taking the time (to respond).”

Diamond Fire Company Chief Michael Wentz said all of his department’s trucks are diesel, and added the building is heated by fuel oil.

“We cut our thermostats back, put timers on garage doors, that way the doors come down sooner,” Wentz said. “We’ve been doing this since COVID.”

However, Wentz added, “there’s an upside, there’s a downside, when you try to save.”

“Somewhere along the line, it costs you money for the timers,” he said. “Hopefully you can save money in the long run later on.”

Franklin Township fire Chief Lynn Diehl said the fire department receives all of its diesel fuel from the township.

“Heating oil (to heat the fire company building) has gone up considerably for us,” Diehl said.

As a result, Diehl said the department carefully monitors where and how it spends its money.

“We pretty well spend what we have; so if we don’t have it, we don’t spend quite as much on anything else,” he said. “It’s just business as usual; you got to watch your pennies.”

Bowmanstown Fire Chief Michael Spairana Jr. said the borough pays for the fire department’s fuel oil.

“I know it’s very expensive all of a sudden,” Spairana said. “We’re feeling the pinch just like everybody else.”

Spairana said that between “purchasing items for resale, the cost of electricity going up, all those fixed expenditures, we’re feeling the pinch.”

“We’re seeing probably a 15 to 20% increase, and it’s very difficult to raise the prices enough to recoup the costs as far as our food sales, drink sales,” he said. “If we raise the cost too much, it will deter people from coming in and purchasing anything, and we don’t want to cut down on people coming in.”