WILMINGTON, DE -- A Delaware filmmaker is beginning production on a television documentary dealing with problems currently faced by the volunteer fire-rescue services in the United States. The film, with a working title of “Last One Standing”, is being produced by veteran videojournalist, Lou Angeli, himself a trained firefighter and first-responder.
Following a timeline which begins in 1970, “Last One Standing” highlights the wide range of emergency services provided by volunteer fire departments, examine problems currently faced by administrators, and explore possible solutions for a system whose ranks are quickly dwindling.
“America’s volunteer Firefighters and EMT’s are extraordinary people,’ Angeli says, ‘because they work at this nation’s most dangerous profession FOR FREE!”
Twenty-five years ago, the volunteer fire service was truly the nation's leading fraternity, with a million and a half members and 33,000 places to call home across the USA. But Angeli says that the 90's changed the volunteer system in a way that few had anticipated. As older members dropped away from active service, opting for a well deserved spot in the day room, the next generation of volunteers never fully materialized.
Angeli plans to tell the story through the voices of volunteer administrators, company officers and frontline firefighters themselves. Their insight and commentary will provide viewers with inside information from firehouses nationwide.
“Last One Standing” is one of the few fire-rescue documentaries that specifically deals with the subject of volunteer firefighting, a system developed during the colonial period by Benjamin Franklin himself.
The documentary is being filmed in High--Definition and surround sound, and according to Angeli, will take about 6 months to produce. Editing and post production will take place in Wilmington, Delaware.
Angeli's most popular work is the 2005 documentary “Answering the Call: Ground Zero's Volunteers.”
