(Milford)– A number of fire departments in the region are in need of people to step up to become firefighters and emergency medical technicians, or EMT’s. Jason Simpson is a firefighter with the Milford Fire Department, which he says, is also in need of some help right now…
“You know we need people to step up to be in that position. Firefighting is an exciting position, believe it or not. You get to see a lot of things. You get to work together as a team and go in there, and the fact that you get to save somebody’s life by pulling them out of a house, that just makes you feel really good at the end of the day.”
While there is a time commitment, Simpson says it’s a great way to give back to the community…
“On a volunteer fire department most departments meet for a regular business meeting once a month and then we also, in Milford, we train once a month to make sure that our skills are up and everybody’s comfortable working together and so when we have a situation, time is of the essence. We want to make sure we’re prepared, so there’s two times a month that you would meet. Now in order to be a firefighter you do need to take the firefighter one class which is kind of a lengthy class but once you’re done with it then you’re going to be at a level called firefighter one.”
Simpson, who’s been a firefighter for 22 years, says volunteers do receive stipends when they go on calls. He says it’s real easy to get your name out there if you’re interested in becoming a member of a fire department…
“You just need to contact the Fire Chief in the community that you live in and they’ll get you an application and it’s a pretty simple process. They’ll run that through the department at a business meeting and hopefully you’re on.”
Simpson, who serves on the Milford Fire Department’s recruitment committee, says they can have up to 35 on their roster. He says the numbers have dropped recently and that they now have between 15 and 17 active members.
