Reporters are normally the ones who ask the questions in an interview, but Garden Spot Fire Rescue (GSFR) chief Darryl Keiser is happy to turn the tables, and he is not afraid of honest answers.

"Do you know what the most powerful drug in the world is?" he asked during a sit-down in his office at Station 39, 339 E. Main St., New Holland.

"Adrenaline," I answered.

"That's exactly right," said Keiser without hesitation. "We are all adrenaline junkies. That's what gets (all the volunteers) in. We're big boys with big toys."

Of course, it takes more than adrenaline to make someone serve the local community as a volunteer firefighter for more than 25 years. Keiser came to the borough in 1987 as a staff member at the New Holland Church of the Nazarene. At first, he and his family lived in Terre Hill. When they moved to New Holland in the early 1990s, Keiser's neighbor Shawn Mohler asked him about volunteering with the company. Having been a member of a volunteer fire service in Cedarville, N.J., as a teenager, Keiser accepted. He was appointed as an officer in 2010, and he was elected chief in 2017.

Keiser devotes several hours a week to his position as chief, while working as a sales representative for New Holland Concrete. "There are fire calls, training at least once a week, and meetings two or three other nights," said Keiser, who attends quarterly Lancaster County meetings for area fire chiefs in addition to GSFR meetings. "We have a bimonthly zone 3 (meeting)," he said, explaining that zone 3 is a coalition of fire departments located in the eastern part of the county. "We all work together," said Keiser.

COVID-19 restrictions interrupted the normal flow of meetings and training sessions. "COVID-19 limited us for training," said Keiser. "We went to station trainings (to keep up to date)." Fortunately, during the shutdown, call volume dropped for both fires and accidents. "There were a lot fewer (accidents) because there was nobody on the road," recalled Keiser. "I was scared we would have more fires with people home cooking, but they were more attentive to what was going on in the house." Keiser explained that the GSFR's first-due area covers about 30 square miles and that overall, the number of calls dropped from just under 500 a year to about 300 for 2020. However, a lack of training and activity is not necessarily a good thing. "When you're not doing what you're trained to do, you lose your edge," noted Keiser, who said that normal training schedules resumed in the fall.

Although GSFR's three stations together boast a healthy active membership, Keiser is always happy to see new volunteers. Matching skills to tasks is an important goal. "We have people who just want to drive the truck," he said. "That's fine, but once you get to the fire, you have to do something. We have to make sure we have something for (all our volunteers) to do." Each piece of equipment requires a minimum number of staff. An engine requires three firefighters, while the ladder truck requires four.

Readers who would like to learn more about GSFR may visit http://www.gsfr39.net, call 717-354-8311, or email chief@gsfr39.net.