NAMPA, Idaho — Fire departments across Idaho are hosting open houses to highlight the career field of fire service and emphasize the need for both volunteer and career firefighters and EMS providers, according to Kirk Carpenter, president of the Idaho Fire Chiefs Association.
"We have fire departments hosting open houses to bring attention and highlight the career field of the fire service, as well as the need for firefighters across the state, as well as EMS providers, both volunteer and career," Carpenter said.
The fire service in Idaho relies heavily on volunteers, who make up nearly 70% of Idaho’s fire personnel. However, fire departments are seeing a decrease in the availability of volunteers.
"My whole family was volunteer firefighters and I just remember my grandpa, my uncle, my dad being allowed to leave work to respond on an emergency within the city I lived in," Carpenter said. "Those opportunities for our communities aren't as available anymore, whether it's the cost of living where our younger people aren't able to leave work because their employer may not allow that or they can't afford to leave work because of the higher mortgage rates or the higher cost of living."
Fire departments are not only searching for volunteer firefighter positions but also for volunteers with other skill sets, including rig maintenance, station care, and paperwork. The open houses will also provide information on career pathways within the fire service.
"One of the things that we'll be talking about on Saturday is career pathways," Carpenter said. "There are multiple ways to work into the fire department as a career, and one of them is through our volunteer agencies."
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
