HUNTSVILLE — The Pine Prairie Volunteer Fire Department is growing.

In just three short years, the small rural group of volunteers has swelled from less than 10 members to more than 20, including reserve firefighters and a rehab crew to assist at fire scenes.

And quantity isn’t the only measure of the department’s success. Of PPVFD’s 18 firefighters, four are fully-commissioned, and most have at least a basic certification from fire training.

“We went from having very little experience to having a whole lot of experience,” Mark Robinson, the department’s chief, said.

And the growth doesn’t stop with the number of volunteers available at fire scenes. Since Robinson took over less than four years ago, the department has applied for and received numerous grants to supplement their slim budget.

“This department had never applied for any grants before, and I’m not sure why,” Robinson said. “But now we apply for every grant that becomes available.”

Since adopting an aggressive grant-seeking policy, Robinson said the department has received aid from the Texas Forest Service to purchase new hoses and other equipment and pay tuition fees to send firefighters to additional training.

In the last year, the department has also garnered donations from local businesses to begin construction of a helicopter pad, which will allow medical helicopters to land at the department’s headquarters, cutting down on transport time for patients seriously injured in the Pine Prairie area.

According to Robinson, the department still has a long way to go, but he’s proud of the crew of volunteers he’s built, many of whom joined the department in addition to full-time firefighting jobs elsewhere.

“The quality of firefighters that (the citizens are) getting is much higher,” he said. “Response time is significantly shorter than it used to be. You’re getting response times almost cut in half. But we’re still having some very serious financial problems.”

Since its foundation in 1989 the PPVFD has always struggled, but with tighter regulations on equipment and procedures for fighters across the county, the department needs financial assistance more than ever.

“Technically we don’t have a brand new truck at all,” Robinson said. “Our equipment is so old that it doesn’t meet any of the guidelines. I run it because I have no other choice.”

For Robinson, the solution is simple: create an Emergency Services District in the Pine Prairie area, something he hopes to bring to Walker County voters in the near future.

“Our long-term goal within the next year is to get an ESD passed and into place,” Robinson said. “Fundraisers can’t raise enough money for the items we need, and if you get grants, the matching funds can be up to $30,000 or $40,000, and we just don’t have that.”

Though he isn’t sure now when the issue will be decided, Robinson points to other ESDs, including one in southern Walker County, as examples of success that could be replicated in his own department.

“Everything here is here to save somebody’s life,” Robinson said. “Any ESD anywhere in the county is nothing but a plus for the people of the county.”

If Pine Prairie were given its own ESD, Robinson said, residents could see full-time firefighters on staff, new stations, new equipment and even lower home insurance rates as area fire protection improves. And to those who doubt, his message is simple: his department is here to stay.

“We need your support. We’re going to grow. We did the research, we’ve crunched the numbers and we hope to have a full-time department within two years of the ESD,” he said. “It’s a real fire department out here. It’s not some old cowboys sitting out here with nothing to do. These are real firefighters, and the thing they need most right now is equipment.”

For more information on the Pine Prairie Volunteer Fire Department, visit  www.pineprairievfd.org.