Information to Volunteer
Requirements:
In-District Members: 4+ hours available at their assigned station per week
Station Duty completed each week. (Typically takes 30-60 minutes to complete)
Attend 75% of weekly training. Attend either Tuesday from 6:30pm-9:30pm or Wednesday from 9:30am-noon.
Additional Requirements for Special Cases:
Out-of-District Members: 8+ Hours available at their assigned station per week
Station Apartment Residents: 40+ Hours available at the station per week.
How to Become a Firefighter
You must be 18+ years old to join as a Recruit. (See below on how to join as a 16- or 17-year-old Apprentice)
Fill out an application online or at the Administration building.
Complete the hiring process, orientation and get assigned fire gear and a pager.
You are then considered a Recruit until you take the next Fire Academy that is offered in January of each year.
NOTE: If you are unable to attend the next Fire Academy you must resign from the department until the December before you are able to take the class.
What can I do as a Recruit?
The best thing to do is watch and learn.
You can run calls in our district if you are at the station and assigned to go on the call.
You can work alongside other members with the exception of entering a burning building, entering the hot zone of an accident (unless technically trained), or going anywhere else that would require an air pack.
Fire Academy Requirements
Fire Academy starts the first Tuesday in January and goes until late April.
Each week you should expect to be in class on Sunday from 9 am-5 pm and Tuesdays & Thursdays 6 pm-10 pm.
The homework load for a typical class includes one test each Tuesday/Thursday and take-home quizzes.
Upon completion of the class you will graduate as a Firefighter of the Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department.
NOTE: Most departments, both volunteer and paid offer their own Fire Academy. Don't take our Fire Academy, expecting to become a Firefighter somewhere else. You are able to take the National Firefighter 1 testing while with our department, but even then many departments want you to attend their own Fire Academy.
Join as a Staff member
Let us know how you can help our department as a volunteer staff member by emailing volunteer@tricommunityfire.com with your contact information and a little bit about how you would like to help.
How to join the Medical Team
You must be 18+ years old to join the Medical Team.
Fill out an application online or at the Administration building.
Complete the hiring process, orientation and get assigned a pager or radio.
If you are already a Tennessee licensed EMR, EMT, AEMT, or EMT-P, you can be a full fledged medical team member.
If you are not medically trained yet, you will be required to take the next EMR class offered by the department.
NOTE: If you are unable to attend the next EMR class you must resign from the department until you know you are able to take the next available class.
Join as an Apprentice
You must be 16+ and have written approval from your parent or guardian.
You maintain a high school GPA of 2.0 or above.
Fill out an application online or at the Administration building.
Complete the hiring process, orientation and get assigned fire gear and a pager.
Once you turn 18, follow the above rules for becoming a Firefighter.
Additional Information:
There are no minimum requirement hours for Apprentices.
As an Apprentice there are more restrictions on what you can and cannot do but you can still help out a lot and run most calls.
Many times the members who joined as Apprentices excel in their class by the time they get to Fire Academy.