WASHINGTON — Now that diesel prices have jumped well beyond $4 a gallon, the volunteer rescuers who protect most of the United States have begun rethinking how they respond to emergencies. In state after state, fire chiefs are leaving fuel-guzzling pumpers and ladder trucks back at the station. They’re cutting out-of-town training for firefighters. They’re dipping into equipment budgets to save money and clustering errands to save mileage. In one Pennsylvania department, firefighters even skip community parades because they can’t afford to drive the routes. ‘We made the decision earlier this year,’ said Ed Mann, who volunteers as the assistant chief in Mifflin County, Pa., where he’s also the state fire commissioner. ‘The costs of fuel right now, it’s like a trickle-down effect everywhere,’ Mann said. The problems are the same across the country, where more than two-thirds of the geography is protected by an estimated 800,000 volunteers. Most of them work in rural areas, where they must drive long distances to emergencies and often rely on donations from spaghetti dinners and bingo nights. ‘A lot of these (departments) are already struggling financially,’ said David Finger, the vice president for government affairs for the […]