"It's a story that needs to be told," Upper Milford Township Supervisor George DeVault says of his recently published book, "Fire Call!"

While the book is largely a memoir of DeVault's three decades as a volunteer firefighter, the important story is the threat to communities nationwide posed by the decline in the number of volunteers who are taking on this vital work. Appropriately, the book's subtitle is "Sounding The Alarm To Save Our Vanishing Volunteers."

DeVault will sign copies of his book at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 at a meeting of the Upper Milford Historical Society, Upper Milford Township Municipal Building, 5671 Chestnut St., Old Zionsville. Copies are avaiable for sale on Amazon and National Penn Bank, Emmaus.

DeVault is donating a portion of the proceeds from book sales to volunteer firefighters.

DeVault began volunteering for the Emmaus Fire Department after moving to Emmaus in 1982 to work for Rodale Press. Rodale Chairman Bob Rodale recognized the importance of volunteers and let his employees miss work for fire calls.

DeVault joined the Vera Cruz Fire Company when he and his family moved to Upper Milford. He served the fire companies for almost 30 years, responding to some 5,000 calls before giving it up about two years ago.

The book, which he said he's been writing for almost 30 years, recounts some of his more memorable experiences.

The most serious incident he responded to was the deadly crash of two small private planes off Lehigh Street near South Mall, Salisbury Township, in 1989. He describes movingly how he was overwhelmed by emotion as he worked to free the body of one of the victims, a boy just about the age of his own son.

Then there was the harrowing rescue of a resident trapped in an overflowing pond during Hurricane Floyd in September 1999. In the chapter, "Attack Of The Man-Eating Pond," DeVault recounts how he plunged into the water to extricate the man, who had gone into the artificial pond intending to pull the cap off a drain to keep the pond from overflowing.

The man's leg was sucked into the drain and he was helpless. DeVault pulled him out with the help of ropes and other firefighters, but not before he was in the frigid water for 30 minutes and thoroughly chilled.

DeVault says that was the only time his wife, Melanie, was truly frightened for his life.

While the rescue was taking place, she was home, recovering from a concussion sustained in an auto accident, and still not thinking clearly. When she saw Emmaus Fire Chief Robert Reiss drive up and didn't see George in the passenger seat, she momentarily feared the worst.

Most calls were more mundane. Pumping out flooded basements; breaking into locked cars, including once to rescue a baby during a snowstorm; and responding to smoke alarms, were all part of the job.

"Fire Call!" is more than a memoir. It includes some history about volunteer firefighting, locally and nationwide. It is also a tribute to dedicated volunteer firefighters, and an urgent call to save volunteer fire crews, whose numbers are rapidly dwindling.

In Pennsylvania, there were some 300,000 volunteer firefighters in 1977. By 2004, that number was down to 50,000.

Communities throughout the U.S. depend entirely or in part on volunteers. The book reports as recently as last year, almost 70 percent of firefighters were volunteers. In the Lehigh Valley, only the three cities have paid firefighters. Every other community depends at least partly on volunteers.

Changes in lifestyle (people commuting longer distances), more rigorous and expensive training and certification requirements, and the need to spend so much time on fundraising have contributed to the decline in volunteer firemen.

There is growing recognition of the problem, with state legislators and communities beginning to address it.

In Emmaus, DeVault says, "[Chief Robert] Bobby Reiss has to get a lot of credit" for implementing incentives, including financial rewards and free physicals, to attract volunteers.

In Upper Milford, a task force including the two fire companies (Vera Cruz and Upper Milford Western District), supervisors and a facilitator from Harrisburg are looking at the needs and prospects. Consolidation is being considered.

In Emmaus, which once had three fire companies, it has been implemented. Fire companies No. 1 and 2 are now bars and restaurants.

At the state level, legislators are looking at ideas like tax credits for volunteers and for businesses, which allow employees to answer calls during working hours.

DeVault says citizens can do a lot to help volunteer departments, even if they don't ever want to go near a fire. Volunteers can handle jobs, listed at the end of the book, like grant writer, fundraiser, bookkeeper, attorney, cook, mechanic and groundskeeper.

DeVault first got interested in firefighting in high school while working as a photographer for the yearbook and a local daily newspaper. His mentors were volunteer firefighters and the idea appealed to him right from the start.

His devotion to the work persists and is evident throughout "Fire Call!"