Waverly, Wellington recruiting volunteer firefighters

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

The Waverly and Wellington fire stations are taking applications for volunteers who are willing and able to respond to fire and emergency calls in those areas.

Both stations are part of the tax-supported Wellington Fire Protection District, where the providers of emergency services donate their time. Station 2 in Waverly is particularly in need of volunteers who live five to six minutes from the station located on County Road 15.

Men and women and a variety of ages can do the job, according to Station 2 Lt. Mike Harte. The minimum age is 18.

"Everyone brings various levels of fitness and ability to the department," Harte said. "However, in the interest of personnel and scene safety, we all have to be at a certain baseline fitness level."

Harte, also a career firefighter, said fitness means the ability to don and doff personal protective gear, to function in a physically taxing emergency environment, to handle fire hose and equipment and to lift and extricate patients from accident scenes.

"In essence, we help people when they need it most," he said.

A regular volunteer must live in the district, but there are also opportunities for others in what the stations call the "shifter" program. In Colorado, a pension is available to volunteer firefighters after 10 years of service.

"It's a nice bit of supplemental income after age 50," Harte noted.

Volunteers from the two stations will get about 550 calls this year, Harte estimated. A member of the firefighting team needs to respond to 30 percent of the calls, or about 150 a year.

A commitment to training is critical to the job, Harte said. The WFPD offers ample cost-free training opportunities for both new and existing members. A new member could complete the firefighter 1 certification during his or her first year, he said. Training for emergency medical technician takes additional hours.

"You need to be an EMT to treat a patient," Harte said.

Throughout the year, the department conducts three hours of regular monthly fire training and three hours of EMS training, as well as occasional weekend training.

Harte said that emergency medical situations make up about 80 percent of calls to fire departments throughout the county. Wellington and Waverly are no exception. Many of the Wellington calls involve traffic accidents on Interstate 25. The remaining 20 percent of calls are generally structure fires, gas leaks or suspicious odors.

Anyone interested in volunteering for the fire department might first visit the web site at www.wfpd.org to get a sense of the organization and its mission. Then a person can pick up an application at Station 1 in Wellington, 8130 Third St. The administration office is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. People living in the Waverly area are encouraged to call 568-3232 and leave a message.

"A Waverly member will be happy to return calls and answer any questions," Harte said.

The volunteer fire department will conduct interviews in January and February, and new members will go on board in April.