By By MaryClaire Foster
The Atmore Fire Department is looking for dedicated and passionate individuals to join their volunteer department, according to Assistant Fire Chief Mike Staples.
Staples said there are currently six volunteers on the roster but the department would like to get at least four more.
Staples said volunteers are crucial to the success of the department and to aid them in serving the city to the best of their ability.
Volunteers are used in circumstances where there is a particularly large fire to handle or as Staples said, in extreme situations such as high temperatures where firefighters’ bodies fatigue more easily.
Staples said becoming part of the volunteer department would be especially helpful to someone looking to make firefighting a full-time job.
Staples said while firefighting has typically been a male-dominated profession, women should not be discouraged from volunteering.
Training for volunteers will start as soon as possible and will include a 160 course, which is a certification class specifically for volunteer firefighters through the Fire College, which will be administered by local instructors in the fire department.
Volunteers will receive extensive training in Hazmat awareness and operation, pump use, use of a self-contained breathing apparatus, ropes and knots, fire behavior and safe driving techniques to name a few.
Volunteers will participate in bi-weekly training, both separate from and alongside the full-time department.
Interested individuals should call the fire department at 368-9156 or go to the station directly to pick-up an application.