Why would anyone take a job with hours that go beyond "irregular" to "unpredictable"? A job that may require jumping out of a warm, dry bed to spend the rest of the night on a wet highway, drenched by spray from passing trucks?

Why would anyone want to swap family weekends and evenings for endless hours of training and study?

Why would a homemaker risk having to leave her kitchen at suppertime, or a dad to abandon his daughter's birthday party because a business owner has a faulty alarm system?

Why would anyone take on a job with such inconveniences and not even be paid for it?

These are just other ways of asking why anyone would be a volunteer firefighter. And the answers are as different as the people who offer them.

The one heard most frequently: "I want to give something back to the community." A veteran firefighter says that's baloney, but his own serious reply belies his cynicism: "It's the camaraderie."

Last week a mix of nearly 30 volunteers, rookies, Explorers and instructors from Peachtree City Fire Department met at the county's burn building off McDonough Road for training in fire suppression and the use of equipment such as self-contained breathing apparatus and thermal imagers.

The press was invited specifically to help publicize the need for additional volunteers, according to Capt. Ed Eiswerth, operations officer for the department.

"What we're trying to do is save the city money and get people involved in the community as volunteer firefighters," Eiswerth said. "In the past nine years, the actual number [of volunteers] has decreased, in the sense that the call volume has increased over 100 percent, but the number of volunteer firefighters has not increased at all."

The department now responds to more than 2,000 calls per year, or nearly six per day, records show. Population growth is the primary factor in call volume, with three calls out of four relating to injuries or medical emergencies.

Firefighters trained in vehicular extrication, first responder skills, evacuation procedures and CPR assist emergency medical personnel. By the same token, EMT's or paramedics respond as safety backups on fire calls.

Who are these volunteers, and why did they give up a sunny Saturday to drag hose in and out of a smokey block building? Meet a few of them:

Rex Old, full-time student, part-time pizza restaurant manager, a volunteer for 16 months. He wants to pursue a career in firefighting, preferably in Fayette County, and is in EMT school. "It's a good way to get training and experience," he says, "and there's the satisfaction of the occasional appreciative person you've helped."

Don Davison, who quips that he has "been a volunteer so long I don't remember why. Community involvement, I guess." Ten of his 17 years in bunker gear have been here in Peachtree City. His "real" job is as an air traffic controller for the FAA.

Robin Laskey, wife, mother and executive secretary at MA Industries, now also an NPQ (National Professional Qualification) Firefighter I and a student in EMT school, with ten months as a volunteer. "I got laid off from a job I'd had for a long time [prior to MA] and I wanted to do something different. I love it for the challenge, the activity and the look on people's faces when you come out of their home and tell them everything's OK."

Tom Bowman works for the FDA in Atlanta, has been here four-and-a-half years, served in Florida for 10. He's assistant adviser to the fire department-affiliated Explorer Post 209, of which his 15-year-old son is a member.

Jeff Baker grew up in Peachtree City, a student at Georgia Tech majoring in international affairs. Not yet a volunteer, but attended the burn last week to get a sense of what it means. Baker says he has seen the "volunteers needed" ad on the public cable channel. "I'm going to do it," he concludes. "It needs doing."