By Sandy Louey
The Sacramento Bee
Copyright 2007 The Sacramento Bee
SACRAMENTO — Ben Quentmeyer steadily made his way up the 105-foot aerial ladder on the ladder truck — a height equivalent to an eight-story building.
The climb ended up being a lot smoother than the descent -- his foot slipped on a rung, but he quickly regained his footing.
For the 27-year-old, it was all part of the job interview process for the Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department.
Quentmeyer, a firefighter/paramedic with the South Lake Tahoe Fire Department, said he was drawn to the Cosumnes district because of its reputation as a progressive department.
“I see a lot of opportunity in this department,” he said.
The Cosumnes fire department is gearing up for one of its largest-ever fire academies, a result of the district board’s authorization in December to hire 25 new firefighters.
Escalating overtime costs, attrition and new staffing models drove the need for the hires.
The aerial ladder climb that Quentmeyer completed was part of an assessment that 144 firefighter and firefighter/paramedic candidates went through over a four-day period last week.
Each candidate spent about an hour at the district’s William Perry Schulze Fire Training Facility on East Stockton Boulevard climbing ladders and demonstrating their emergency medical expertise.
“It’s the best way to get a good, long look at people,” said Brett Shurr, battalion chief for administration for Cosumnes.
The climb up the ladder, which was at a 70-degree angle, tests their cardiovascular ability and their ability to combat any fear of heights, he said.
As part of last week’s assessment process, each prospective candidate also was tested in an emergency medical scenario, in which they had to verbalize all the treatment steps.
The candidates who went through the assessment last week were culled from 311 applicants who had taken a written and physical agility test.
The pool of candidates came from California, Washington and Nevada, Shurr said.
The battalion chief said the department is attractive because it is growing.
Another draw is the district’s compensation package. All firefighters are being hired at the district’s entry-level salary of $5,325 a month. Those hired as paramedics receive an additional $400 a month, he said.
The department plans to select a class of 20 to 25 candidates for the five-month fire academy, scheduled to begin in July.
By the time the selection process is complete, academy candidates will have completed a criminal background check, psychological evaluation, panel interviews and medical and wellness tests, as well as written and physical evaluations.
Shurr said the new firefighters and firefighter/paramedics are scheduled to report to work at fire stations in Galt and Elk Grove in mid-November.
Ten of the 25 new positions that were approved are expected to fill existing vacancies in the Elk Grove and Galt divisions. Three additional positions were requested in anticipation of retirements and attrition from the recruit pool.
Another three positions will help bump up staffing at Fire Station 45 in Galt. The staff will increase from three to four firefighters on the fire engine each shift, bringing it up to par with its counterparts in Elk Grove.
The remaining nine positions will be used to maintain minimum staffing levels and reduce the overtime needed when firefighters are out sick, on vacation or on workers’ compensation leave.
Within the next two years, the district will likely hold two fire academies, one to staff Station 77 in Laguna Ridge and one for Station 78, which will serve the area around the future Elk Grove Promenade shopping center.