The Cortez Fire Protection District is reinstating its junior firefighter program after a brief hiatus.
The program will only accept six junior firefighters at this time, and the application deadline is Dec. 16. The program is set to officially start in January.
Students ages 15 to 17 are eligible for the program. The program was created for people who are interested in fire service, but are too young to be a volunteer firefighter or a paid member of the fire department.
“It’s basically an opportunity for kids that are interested in the fire service as a career, they can be a junior when they turn 15,” Captain Gabriel Rogers told The Journal. “This is an opportunity for them to get in when they’re a little bit young. By the time they’re 18, they already kind of have a good head start on everything.”
Austin Featherman, who was in the program in 2018 as one of the original junior firefighters, is now a full-time firefighter in both Cortez and Farmington.
“Prior to this, I really didn’t know much about firefighters or what they did. Like a little kid, you see the lights flashing down the street, and you’re like, ‘Oh that’s super cool,’ but this introduced me to the fire service,” Featherman said. “I was super fortunate to know by the time I turned 18 and was ready to go into the real world and look for real jobs, that this was what I wanted to do.”
Taking part in the program, junior firefighters will “be exposed to all aspects of training” that are required for fire academies and associated skills.
Juniors may also get to assist on emergency calls, if they stay out of the hazard zone. Some tasks that juniors may take part in include picking up and cleaning equipment, as well as attending biweekly meetings and complete assigned trainings with their fire district advisers and other personnel.
“If we have a structural fire, when we get back to the station, we have a bunch of hose that has to be cleaned, and the trucks have to be cleaned and we got to reload a bunch of equipment, so they can help up with that stuff … get everything back in service,” Rogers said.
They can also do ride-alongs with on-duty firefighters.
The program doesn’t have a specific end date, other than when a student turns 18 years old.
“It’s just however long that the individual wants to do it,” Rogers said.
Featherman said that when he went to the fire academy, he felt more prepared because of what he learned as a junior firefighter.
Featherman said the program can help those who are interested kick-start their career in not only firefighting, but also the medical field, military and more.
“It’s a good steppingstone to look into different careers, even if they don’t know that they want to be a firefighter right now,” Featherman said. “It’s the introduction to a lot of great things.”
The application can be found online at cortezfire.com. After printing and filling out the application, it can be emailed or dropped off at the fire station, 31 N. Washington St.
“If they don’t have access to printing it, they can come into the station and pick up an application and fill it out here,” Rogers and Featherman said.
The firefighters are also available to answer questions about the program and career options. For more information, contact Rogers at grogers@cortezfire.com and 970-560-7461 or Battalion Chief Rick Spencer at pspencer@cortezfire.com and 970-739-3740.
“They can come in anytime and talk to anybody here about the program,” Rogers said. “We’re always willing to talk to anybody about the career path, what the job looks like, all of that.”
