The Crookston Firefighters Association will be holding an informational open house on Wednesday, June 9, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the North Fire Station at 1921 Sahlstrom Drive for motivated candidates interested in Fire and rescue while serving the Crookston community.
Matt Johnson, vice president of the Crookston Firefighter Association, said they are looking to get some interest in the fire department. “We have seen applications dwindle over the years,” said Johnson. “Less and less people are applying, so we are trying to rekindle some interest in the fire department and get some information out there, what we are about, what we do, and try to get some more interest.”
Being part of the Crookston Firefighters Association is the volunteer arm of the fire department. “We have training once a month at 6:30 p.m., we respond to a variety of different calls including rescue calls, fire calls, car accidents, grass fires, you name it,” said Johnson. “We provide pretty extensive training, especially through the first few years once you get on, so your set up to respond to those calls. We will take anybody from greener than green that has never been involved to experienced people.”
The Crookston Firefighters are actually two separate entities. “There are technically two departments in the city,” said Johnson. “The first is the City of Crookston Fire Department which consists of six full-time guys and the fire chief. And there is our Crookston Firefighters Association, which I am a part of, that has 25 members, and we share the same chief as the full-time department. We operate on our own, we’re not under the city, and we are looking to hire right now.”
Johnson said they suggest new “volunteer” firefighters make it to 25 percent of the calls and at least 60 percent of the training. “We respond to anywhere from 30 to 50 calls per year depending on the year,” said Johnson. “We train once a month for three to four hours, and we have a business meeting after the training for one to two hours. A few state schools do training, and several departments, including ours, offer training so you can get your Firefighter 1, which is required within the first three years of service. It is a fair amount of training, but it is a good experience for sure.”
Being part of the Crookston Firefighters Association is a good way to give back to the community. “You do get paid a little bit. It’s not much, and you’re not going to make a living wage off of it, but you get a retirement fund put together, and you partially vested after five years and fully vested after 20 years,” said Johnson. “You get a little extra there, which is nice.”
Johnson said he has been part of the Crookston Firefighters Association for seven years, and he has enjoyed the experience. “It has been a great experience for me. I would have never thought I would have been on the fire department. I would never have guessed it,” said Johnson. “Things worked out, and it has been a great experience. We have a great group of guys. We have guys from 33 years of experience down to six months, so we have a good range of guys.”
