Fire dept. offering free housing for volunteer firefighters

In return, the firefighters agree to respond to fire and emergency calls in the area

July 09, 2015 09:55 AM

The Oregonian

FOREST GROVE, Ore. — Seeking four roommates for free housing. Must have firefighting skills and be willing to live and work in rural setting. Affection for the sound of sirens is a plus.

It’s no Craigslist ad, but the Forest Grove Rural Fire District’s latest call for volunteers may inspire some interest. The fire district is offering free rent in a manufactured home next door to its Gales Creek station in hopes of assembling a more reliably staffed volunteer firefighter pool.

The house will be home to any four volunteer or intern firefighters who want a free private bedroom and bathroom with utilities paid in a rural setting. In return, the firefighters agree to respond to fire and emergency calls in the area.

“It’s just really tough out there to find volunteers,” said Forest Grove Fire Marshal Dave Nemeyer of the rural fire district, which spans from Forest Grove to near Banks and deep into the Tillamook State Forest.

On top of dwindling participation in an already small volunteer pool, Nemeyer said, some volunteers in the large rural fire district can live up to 30 minutes away from the station. Another agency will sometimes complete an emergency response by the time volunteers can get to the Gales Creek station, he said.

But with a house full of firefighters right next door, those Gales Creek fire trucks should be able to get out the door much quicker.

Coming soon! The four cones in the lawn mark where a new home will be built next to our all volunteer fire station in...
Posted by Forest Grove Fire & Rescue on Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Using free rent to attract volunteers is not unheard of in the world of firefighting. Before leveling it in a practice burn, the Cornelius Fire Department had an intern house next to its own station. Students at Pacific University were allowed to live in the Forest Grove station as volunteers for almost a century before the department began an intern program in 2009. Forestry agencies, too, have for years housed volunteers in hilltop cabins to watch for summer forest fires.

The Gales Creek house will cost about $130,000 once it’s installed at the site and furnished, ideally by the end of the summer, Nemeyer said. The city of Forest Grove and the rural fire district are going in on the house together with funds from their respective tax bases.

Volunteers hoping to land in the house must commit to two months of front-end training and respond to a certain number of calls each month. They’ll also be responsible for regular household chores, such as cleaning and mowing the lawn.

Nemeyer said the deal is pretty sweet for people in their early to mid-20s who don’t mind living a ways out from the city action in Portland. “It’s a nice, quiet little community out there,” he said, and the house won’t be the place to party.

Volunteer firefighters get $10 per call they respond to, and the 120 calls the Gales Creek station fields each year leave plenty of time to keep a full-time job.

Nemeyer said applications for the fall volunteer firefighter academy have just closed, but the spring academy application will open soon at the city of Forest Grove’s employment page.