Editor’s note: This is a preview of the 2008 Progress edition — Snapshots: Southern Iowans Who Make A Difference. The full special section will be included in this Monday’s edition.

EDDYVILLE — “It’s got to be in your blood,” Gene Rouze says of working as a firefighter for the Eddyville Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department.

Gene points out that with most volunteer fire departments, if you look at the history of the volunteers, they have a brother, father or grandfather who also has served. They have an idea of what it takes before they volunteer.

“That is about how we all get started,” Rouze says. “For me, it was my brother. I joined, too, and now I have been doing this for 35 years.”

Rouze enjoys being able to help his neighbors. “Helping people, that is the name of the game. We are public safety.”

The department has offered numerous field trips for school children over the years. Rouze enjoys the opportunity to teach kids about fire safety and what to do in case of a fire.

“Young people inspire me,” he says. “I’m a kid-oriented person. I love the kids; anything I can do for them, I will bend over backwards to do it.”

One important part of those field trips is showing children what a firefighter looks like when dressed to fight a fire. Rouze points out that his looks change tremendously when he puts on the full turn-out gear and self-contained breathing apparatus. Even the way they sound can seem scary to a small child.

“We show the kids what we are going to look like, teach them not to be afraid and that they should come to us. We teach them to get down on the floor and crawl, stay down out of the heat and smoke. That is where we will be, too,” he says.

He has written many grants for the department, including one that brought in $250,000 in 2004 for new equipment. This provided the department with a lot of necessary equipment for day-to-day operations. Some of the new items they were able to purchase include Jaws of Life, airbags and a commercial washer and dryer to clean turn-out gear. That’s important, he says, to clear those items of carcinogens after a fire.

He serves on 9-1-1 and commission boards in Mahaska, Wapello and Monroe counties. “There is always a meeting you can go to,” he says.

Rouze spends countless hours at the fire department in Eddyville. He also spends a lot of time in training and in teaching classes. Everyone in the department has to go through 60 hours of training for the Firefighter 1 class, followed by an additional 24 hours of annual training. There also may be additional specific training.

“New rules and regulations make it very challenging; all the required training and rules are very, very demanding,” he says. “As a volunteer, this is time away from your job and your family.”

Every time you go out the door, it’s different, Rouze says, with all the chemicals and things in Eddyville’s industrial area, even chemicals used in homes. Polyester clothing hanging in closets causes a more dangerous smoke as does Styrofoam, the blue smoke you sometimes see with it releases cyanide into the air.