ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) - Of South Dakota's 362 fire departments, only 7 of them consist of paid staffs who fight fires for a living.

That leaves 355 departments that rely on unpaid volunteers.

Scott Meints, Brown County's emergency management director and a former Columbia volunteer firefighter, says it takes a special person to be a volunteer firefighter. He says it often interferes with family duties -- and that sometimes, volunteers don't get paid for the work they miss at their regular jobs.

Volunteer firefighter Chris Langston of the Aberdeen rural department, says he always answers his pager when a call comes in. Langston, who responds to about 60 fires a year, said volunteers do it because there's a need.

State Fire Marshal Al Christie says the seven South Dakota fire departments that are fully career are Sioux Falls, Joe Foss Field, Watertown, Aberdeen, Mitchell, Rapid City and Ellsworth Air Force Base.