MEYERSDALE, PA — Outside of the Meyersdale Volunteer Fire Department facility along Main Street in this Somerset County town, primarily known for its famous maple syrup, the annual festival and its proximately to the Great Allegheny Passage trail, sits a weathered monument to the men and women who volunteer to serve and protect the community.

The likelihood that people walk or drive past it every day without noticing is high. But for many in this tight-knit community who have experienced catastrophic emergencies, that memorial — adorned with a fire captain’s helmet and boots on either side of the engraved inscription of the Fireman’s Prayer — will always be their salvation: