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With the number of volunteer firefighters down and the need for them rising across the country, the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Association is launching what may be one of the first dedicated recruiting stations in the country.

Eric M. Bernard, executive director of the association, said the motivation for opening the storefront recruiting station on the corner of North Washington Street and Beall Avenue in downtown Rockville is simple.

"Volunteerism is down nationwide because of the demands on people's time, like those working two jobs," he said. "There's not always time to volunteer. But since 9/11, the training requirements have increased for volunteers."

He said new firefighters used to get "on-the-job training" by being whisked away to emergencies where they would learn the trade.

Volunteers today have between 250 and 280 hours of classroom training before they step foot on a piece of equipment, Bernard said. Many work up to 14-hour shifts.

The county has about 1,650 certified volunteer firefighters, which represents a 19 percent rise in numbers during the past 18 months, Bernard said. He said the need for volunteers is going up "easily at that rate."

The 1,500-square-foot space will be staffed by at least one volunteer when it is open during the day and into late evening, but the sign will be illuminated all day, every day, Bernard said.

The space will have computers, boots, fireproof suits and the cab of a decommissioned fire engine to give potential recruits a sense of what it would be like as a volunteer firefighter.

The space is set to open in November, Bernard said. They have run into unique challenges trying to put the cab of the fire truck in the building, he said.

The Montgomery County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association corporate offices will be located on the fourth floor above the recruiting station. It will be the first time the association will have a permanent headquarters, Bernard said.

Before the creation of a full-time county fire chief in 2004, the volunteer fire and rescue associations scattered throughout the county were unorganized, he said.

But many of them congealed into the one association and met in volunteers' homes before getting a $250,000 federal grant allowing them to create the headquarters and recruiting station.

The station will aid in the recruiting efforts of all 19 volunteer fire departments in the county, he said. The volunteers who staff the station will not run on calls; their sole responsibility will be to recruit new volunteers.

Bernard said his organization checked with the International Association of Fire Chiefs and officials there believe the station is the first of its kind in the country, and definitely the first in the tri-state area.

An attempt to reach the spokeswoman at the International Association of Fire Chiefs was unsuccessful by press time Tuesday afternoon.