The next time you call 911 from Hanover, don’t be alarmed if a fatigue-clad soldier responds.

He’s not moonlighting for extra cash or performing mandatory community service.

He’s one of the all-volunteer Hanover Fire Protection District’s seven active firefighters who is serving, or who has served, in the U.S. military. That’s one third of the fire district’s 21-member squad.

“So often you only hear about the bad things soldiers are doing — the fights downtown, the DUIs, the shootings,” said Staff Sgt. Carl Tatum, chief of the Hanover Fire Protection District and an active-duty soldier for more than two decades. “You don’t hear about all the good stuff.

“I think you would find there are more soldiers who volunteer in the community.”

Volunteering with the fire district entails a substantial time commitment that can rival the long days and late nights soldiers dedicate to their “day job,” Tatum said.

He spends an average of 30 hours a week responding to calls, writing grants and participating in training.

Spc. Joe Lowery, the district’s other active-duty soldier, dedicates most of his free time to the department to stay busy while he’s away from his family.

He’s dreamed of being a firefighter and soldier since he was a boy and says balancing the two gigs is “worth it.”

“When I’m not at work, I’m down there just working around the station,” Lowery said. “I sit around there and study, do truck checks — make sure everything’s good to go.

“With the fire department, I can serve my community, and I can serve my country with the Army.”

When it comes to training, the fire protection district does its best to work around the military’s schedule.

But emergencies, of course, can’t be scheduled. Tatum has shown up on calls in fatigues and a vest that identifies him as a member of the fire protection district.

He carries a pager and says his command often lets him report to calls during the duty day.

“If it sounds like a bad call or something that is going to be time consuming, most of the time they’ll let me respond from Fort Carson,” he said. “As long as my job gets done and I can manage the fire department as well, they have no issues with it.”

Being a member of a volunteer fire department has its benefits — especially in this economy.

Members of the Hanover Fire Protection District receive free training and certifications in such things as firefighting, emergency medicine and disaster response.

“It’s not every day that you’re going to see gunshot wounds or IED explosions,” Tatum said.

“You’ve got other things out here: traffic accidents, routine medicals, traumas from horseback riding. Things that they don’t see on a day-to-day basis help them keep up their skills.”

It can also help facilitate a post-military career change.

“I don’t know of the last time IBM hired a sniper,” said Jim Reid, chairman of the district’s board and one of three veterans, including Tatum, to serve on it. “All the calls they want to go on, they can certainly go on. It gives them the opportunity to learn some skills and make themselves marketable. In return, they take care of their community.”

While soldier-firefighters bolster their skills or train for a future career, the community benefits too.

Soldiers often bring skills and a mindset that not all civilians posses, such as the ability to triage causalities, which can result in a greater number of lives saved at disaster scenes, Tatum said.

As for the service of the soldiers on squad, Reid said it’s exemplary.

“They’re serving our country and they don’t know when they’re going to get orders,” he said. “To take what little time they do have and to give it to us is a huge gift.”