Like most Chickasaw County fire departments ... Fredericksburg bucks trend when it comes to volunteers

Ray Ambrecht’s goal is the same as every other fire chief in the state of Iowa.“We want to bring everyone home,” the longtime Fredericksburg fire chief said during a recent interview, “and that’s why we put all that time into training. You know, you hope you never have to use it but it’s better to be prepared so that when something does happen, you’re ready to go.”Ambrecht has been a firefighter in the town of just under a 1,000 since 1991, and he’s served as the department’s chief for the past 15 years, and while he’s seen changes — the number of firefighters who work out of town, for example — has greatly increased, he feels fortunate that his department has been able to buck a national trend of dwindling volunteers.— For more on this story, see the Oct. 9 New Hampton Tribune.