Cumberland County’s Fire Department is in need of volunteers.
Captain Mike Findley said the Department currently only has three full-time workers. He said they need volunteers to be able to respond quickly to emergencies across the county.
“Our main station is here in the center of Crossville, so we have a time delay of getting there,” Findley said. “Like to Westel, it’s almost a 20-minute drive from the center of Crossville to Westel, so if we have more volunteers there or Pleasant Hill, they get a faster response time with that fire engine that’s in that district.”
Findley said volunteers will have must go through basic fitness and agility tests before moving on to further training and classes.
“Once they do that, they come up here, they fill out the paperwork and then they have to come up on all three shifts at least four hours time to spend and get to know the full-time men and to go over the equipment here,” Findley said. “And just get some talking to and training, get familiarized with stuff, and then they’ll be starting a rookie school.”
Findley said after completing the rookie school, volunteers will go through training and written tests at the state level. He said the entire process to become a certified firefighter can take up to two years.
“There’s a lot of training there, it’s a lot of time,” Findley said. “But we foot the bill all the way through. It’s all paid for by the Cumberland County Fire Department.”
Findley said applications can be picked up at the station at 1391 Livingston Road in Crossville.
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