Hawleyville Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company and Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue both held recruitment open house hours on Saturday, April 9, as part of Volunteer Firefighter Day.National Volunteer Week (April 10-16) by hosting recruitment open houses on Volunteer Firefighter Day.here, and more information about Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue is available here.

More than 60 fire departments across the state celebrated

Visitors at both Hawleyville Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company and Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue between 10 am and 2 pm on Saturday were introduced to members and to their efforts as volunteers. Both firehouses were open for visitors to explore.

Volunteer Firefighter Day is also part of Everyday Hero of CT, a program dedicated to increasing the number of volunteer firefighters throughout the state, according to an announcement about the events. A partnership of the Connecticut Fire Chiefs Association (CFCA) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the Everyday Hero CT campaign is a two-year Volunteer Workforce Solutions initiative designed to address the shortage of volunteer firefighters in Connecticut. Everyday Hero CT is funded by a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant awarded to the CFCA by the US Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to develop a model to enhance the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters.

Brookfield resident Amanda Senanayake, a 21-year-old biology major at Providence College with hopes of attending a physician's assistant school, was shown around Hawleyville Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company Saturday morning.

"I want to volunteer over the summer as an EMT," said Ms Senanayake.

Hawleyville's Bill McAllister, who oversees membership, said the day was going well so far, just a short while after the open house began.

Across town at Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue, Ken Carlson, Bill Jensen, Dave Athans, and Andy DeWolfe were among those ready to offer tours of the firehouse, show gear, and explain different ways people can support the fire company.

Both companies had fire trucks parked outside for the events, beckoning drivers to stop in and learn more about volunteering as firefighters.

Representative Elizabeth Esty also stopped by both fire houses Saturday morning, and spoke with the firefighters.

More information about Hawleyville Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company is available