Winchester and Frederick County Fire and Rescue departments are participating in a statewide study on volunteer recruitment and sustainability.

Leaders are trying to address the biggest issue facing fire departments in Virginia, keeping volunteer firefighters.

There are some exceptions.

Leaders at Gainesboro Fire and Rescue Company say it is not luck that keeps volunteers coming here and staying. They say they have worked very hard to get where they are today.

David Keyser is a full time student at Shenandoah University and has been a volunteer at Gainesboro for five years. He's never thought about leaving.

Keyser says, "I make time for this. I enjoy it so much that I find a way to balance everything."

Chief Donald Jackson has been a volunteer firefighter for more than 30 years.

He says the key to success is having structure for his volunteers, especially for people new to the company.

Chief Jackson says, "We have a pretty stringent program on how you get cleared to ride the trucks, both on the EMS and the fire side. New members are also assigned a mentor to go through all the steps. There's probably about 30 hours of training that they take before they can even think about getting on one of the fire trucks."

He says having well laid out procedures and keeping up with training like this on a weekly basis helps keeps interest. The chief adds the way volunteers interact here is also key.

Chief Jackson tells TV3, "Fire service is a brotherhood and we have a lot of brotherhood here. I think that does a lot for us, i think that takes us a long way."