Volunteers Wanted / Needed

Please contact any of our officers if you are interested in information on how you can volunteer. We need your help. Regardless of physical ability or knowledge about fire department operations, there is a place for you in the volunteer fire service.

MEMBERSHIP CLASSES AND REQUIREMENTS

Purpose:

The purpose of this procedure is to organize the members of the fire department into shifts and scheduling them to man apparatus and respond to calls at any given time during the duty day: and to establish a minimum participation and training standards for all active members.

Application:

This procedure applies to all members of the fire department.

Definitions and Responsibilities:

On-call (definition): When a member has agreed to be available to respond to EMS and fire calls, fire calls or EMS calls only during a specified time period during the member’s shift’s duty day. The member will agree to man the apparatus at their home (if they reside in an approved area), at the fire station or at another approved location within the fire departments response area. If not manning apparatus, the member will agree to remain within the fire departments response area of five minutes driving time from the fire station for the duration of the period specified and agreed upon. The member will respond to all medical calls (by apparatus or person vehicle if the scene is between the member and the fire station) if they meet the requirements to respond to medical calls. The member will return to the fire station and man the appropriate apparatus for all fire calls and auto accidents. 

Member status and training requirements:

Members will be placed into categories based on their training and experience.

	Firefighter: Any member who has completed the State Volunteer Basic or Minimum Standards with a passing score, department skills evaluation and maintains the minimum participation requirements.
	Trainee: Any member who is in the process of training to be a Firefighter who maintains the minimum participation requirements. Members have one year to complete the Volunteer Basic and First Responder training. Department training and skill evaluations will dictate their participation.
	Engineer: Any Firefighter who has E.V.O.C. training and has completed the fire department training for driving and operations of all the apparatus.
	Medical Responder: Any member who has completed the First Responder Training with a passing score, a current EMT license or a current Paramedic License and maintains the minimum participation requirements.
	Support Member: Any member who is not participating in active firefighting or EMS response. Example: Rehab, traffic control, ICS support, etc.
	Auxiliary Member: Any elected board member or inactive member who has paid the current dues but is not participating in fire department activities.

 The department will be organized into three shifts consisting of all active members. In addition, there will be a Chief with duties as specified by the charter, Assistant chief, and Captain. A Lieutenant assisted by one Senior Engineer and one Senior Firefighter will command each shift.

The on duty shift will be responsible for responding to all calls for service during their duty day beginning at 7:00 am for 24 hours. All available members from all shifts are requested to respond to all dispatches involving fire. Additional personnel from the on duty shift or off duty shifts may be requested to respond to other calls for service if deemed necessary by the incident commander.

The on duty shift will be responsible for all maintenance tasks that arise during their duty day or that are assigned for that day by the Chief, Assistant Chief, Captain or Lieutenants. This includes insuring that all apparatus are returned to full service after calls.

The on duty shift on the weekly meeting night will be responsible for checking all apparatus and equipment for proper working order prior to the start of the meeting. They will also be responsible for the cleanliness of the station and set up necessary equipment for the meeting.

 Communications Equipment:

All active members will be issued a fire department pager. Non-active auxiliary members will not be issued a fire department pager. Portable radios will be issued to the Officers. All apparatus will have a portable radio assigned to them for use by the members at calls for service. 

Protective Clothing:

All active members will be issued protective clothing as specified in the S.O.P. based on their level of training. All active members will be issued a fire department jumpsuit and T-shirt. Inactive members will not be issued any protective clothing.

Participation Requirements:

 Each active member will accumulate a minimum total of forty (40) hours per calendar month of on-call time worked during his or her designated shift’s duty days. It is the member’s responsibility to report all on-call time to their shift supervisors.  If a member fails to respond to calls, due to any reason under their control, during the time period that they have agreed to be on-call, they will be issued a written warning and placed on probation for 28 days. A second offense during this probation period will result in the member being placed in an inactive status and all fire department equipment will turned in. The member will have to appeal to the chief to return to active duty.

Being placed in an inactive status does not affect voting privileges or other membership privileges as specified by the charter.

Members will attend a minimum of one (1), 2-hour minimum in duration, organized department meeting, workday, fund raising event or training session per calendar month. The chief can issue an exception if extenuating circumstances exist.

Every 3 months the officers will review their shifts participation. Anyone who has not met the minimum participation requirements will be placed on an inactive status and will surrender any department equipment issued to them. The member will have to appeal to the chief to be reinstated.

The chief will promptly report all firefighter inactivations for non-participation, or otherwise, to the State Fire Marshall Bureau of Standards and Training, if the member is Minimum Standards Compliance Certified.