ROBSTOWN, Texas — The Robstown Volunteer Fire Department has been serving the community for around 110 years.
Neighborhood News Reporter, Stephanie Molina, asked life-long Robstown residents what their thoughts are on the Robstown Volunteer Fire Department.
“I think they do a wonderful job,” Sylvia Aenzalbua, Robstown resident, said.
“They're not gonna let you go down, I mean they're gonna be there and work on you until you're safe,” Krystal Garza, Robstown resident said.
Many residents are proud of the department, but right now, they’re in need of new dedicated volunteers.
“There's not a lot of people that wanna volunteer because they got stuff to do, but we're trying to bring at least 10 or 15 more to at least help us out,” Javier Zapata, Chief of Robstown Fire Department, said.
Fire Chief Zapata said they currently only have 8 volunteer firefighters and can max up to 40 volunteers.
“These guys are very low in numbers, they can't operate a function of fire just with the minimum people they have,” Edwin Benavides, President of the volunteers at RVFD, said.
Benavides said he joined when he was 18 years old after being invited to attend one of the department's weekly Thursday meetings by his friends.
“I didn't know if I was gonna like it or not, but I ended up liking it and I stayed 13 years in,” Benavides said.
The department understands the difficulty it is to be a volunteer and have a full-time job, but they mention that volunteering can be rewarding.
“We always help somebody on their worst day, if there's a car accident, house fire,” Benavides said.
The requirements to be a volunteer is to be at least 18 years old, pass a background check, and have a valid driving license.
“Come out here and see what we do come help your community maybe you'll like it, you'll become one of the volunteers. Maybe one day you'll even become one of the one of our guys, pay firefighters,” Fire Chief Zapata said.
Recruitment day is on Saturday, May 3rd from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. and will be located at the Robstown Volunteer Fire Department (516 E Ave B, Robstown, TX 78380).
