The volunteer agency drops the age limit from 21 to 19 and is welcoming nonresidents to beef up its ranks and speed response.
By Ann Schrader
The Denver Post
Copyright 2007 The Denver Post
All Rights Reserved
GOLDEN, Colo. — Like many volunteer fire agencies, the Golden Fire Department has had a tough time recruiting enough townspeople to battle blazes and pluck victims from steep slopes and fast water.
So the department, which serves an 18-square-mile area, has dropped the age limit for volunteer firefighters from 21 to 19, and for the first time in its 128-year history, the agency has welcomed nonresidents in its ranks.
“We’ve gotten a great response,” Fire Chief John Bales said of the residency rule, which was relaxed in February. “Other volunteer fire departments have eliminated residency. So to stay competitive, we’ve got to get our ducks in a row.”
Two volunteers who had moved out of the district have eagerly returned. Seven other nonresidents will graduate May 12 from the fire academy, and scores more are signing up for the August academy session.
Some are in the fire sciences and emergency medical technician program at Red Rocks Community College, Bales said.
Others are Colorado School of Mines students, who balance heavy class loads with the minimum of three 12-hour shifts a month.
Career firefighters from other area departments volunteer for Golden on their days off, helping particularly with coverage during the day when volunteers are at their regular jobs and can’t respond quickly.
Incoming recruits commit to three months of training - a couple of nights each week and every other Saturday - before hitting the street as a certified firefighter.
Bales said a new shift program will mean growing from 55 volunteers to about 80.
Introduction of shifts means spending nights in the firehouse, which Lt. Gene Quador said means “we will roll down the streets or slide down the pole faster. It will get us out of the door quicker.”
When the new $2.7 million Station No. 1 is completed next year, it will include a dorm that sleeps eight.
Quador, hired in January to coordinate volunteer recruitment, noted the time and training commitment takes “special people who want to help the community in the spirit of volunteerism.”