The Emerson and Dominion City Fire Departments are looking for rural firefighters and first responders.

Jeff French, Fire Chief for the Emerson Fire Department, said it can be hard to find volunteers in small towns.

"You get a lot of people working out of town, working in Winnipeg, commuting, and these have almost become bedroom communities," he explained. "It's nice to have people from the town that are around during the day that can help out."

He noted the 21 rural firefighters in Emerson have worked out well out so far, but he'd be more comfortable with a couple more.

"The more we have, the more chance we have of not missing a call," he said.

"We'd probably like to get 2-3 per station," he added. "One of the things we're concentrating on is more first responders right now."

French acknowledges the fact that there's a big time commitment involved.

"The training is one of the biggest parts... it's minimum 300 hours to become a first responder firefighter... never mind ongoing training, meetings, and calls," he said.

The retirement of current members is also part of the issue, said French, noting he'd rather be "proactive than reactive."

As for recruitment, the fire departments are relying on word of mouth for now and aren't putting out formal advertising yet.