Overview

Thank you for considering becoming part of our team at Benton County Fire District #1. This section is dedicated to explaining a little bit about our program, our application process, and lists the benefits offered by Benton County Fire District #1. We hope this brief explanation will help you make the decision to join our team.

OVERVIEW

Benton County Fire District #1 provides fire suppression, basic life support response, and hazardous materials response for an area that covers more than 320 square miles. The District is bordered by Kennewick to the North and extends to the Washington/Oregon border to the South. The District includes residential areas, commercial complexes, wildland areas, and more. To provide coverage to this diverse area, we currently have six fire stations, a fire training center and an administrative office. Our career staff consists of a Fire Chief, Deputy Fire Chief, Executive Director of Business Operations, Administrative Assistant, Office Assistant, Training Officer, Maintenance Supervisor, seven full-time Firefighters, two full-time Firefighter/Paramedics, and two full-time Firefighter/EMT's. The rest of the District is comprised of people like you who are volunteer firefighters, officers, and support service personnel. Our entire operation utilizes approximately 100 people. The District is administered by an elected Board of Commissioners with three members. This Board meets twice a month and is the final authority on all actions performed by the District and its members.

Safety and training are high priorities throughout the District and each station has one safety meeting per month as well as weekly training meetings. District personnel are required to attend a minimum amount of training and incident responses per month. For those people who work shifts and are unable to attend a night drill, a daytime drill is held each week on Thursday morning at the Fire Training Center.

APPLICATION PROCESS

The following is a step-by-step process that will be followed from the time you pick up your application until the completion of recruit school. After receiving this application, you will;

1. Complete the Application for Membership. (Apply Online or mail/hand-deliver a paper version)
2. Email or mail/hand-deliver your High School Diploma, Washington State Driver's License and 5-Year driver's abstract from the Washington State Department of Motor Vehicles to our Administrative Office at .
3. Our Administrative Staff will reply to your email and forward any additional documentation on to you for completion.  

  4.   Our Administrative Office will review the application for completeness and forward the

         application to the Applicant Coordinator, who will request a criminal background check

         from the Washington State Patrol.

   5.   The candidates contact information is forwarded to the station captain, who will contact

         the candidate to schedule a station tour and provide an opportunity to observe drill and

         meet members at the station.

   6.   The Applicant Coordinator will contact the candidate prior to recruit school to discuss

         questions and provide details regarding the testing process.

   7.   Upon successful completion of the written, oral, and agility assessment, the candidate will

         be notified by the Applicant Coordinator and provided information for scheduling a

         physical exam through the Fire District Physician.

   8.   After passing the physical exam, the completed application will be forwarded to the Fire

         Chief and Board of Trustees for final approval.

   9.   After approval by the Board of Trustees, the applicant will be notified and may begin

         participating in all District training. The applicant will receive additional direction for

         scheduling an appointment at Station 160 to have training equipment issued for the next

         available recruit school.

BENEFITS

Along with being involved in exciting and challenging volunteer work, here are some benefits that are offered by the District. The following is a list of some of the programs that are either offered or provided;

1. Volunteer Relief and Pension Fund - Offered
2. Life Insurance Policy, $10,000 - Offered
3. Death and Disability Insurance, in addition to the Volunteer Relief and Pension Fund - Provided
4. Reimbursement for pre-approved fire related college courses - Offered
5. Additional Training Classes - Provided
6. Medical physical every other year, or as required - Provided

In addition, our volunteers receive compensation for expenses incurred during responses and training. A firefighter is reimbursed $9.60 per response or training session.

CLOSING

We hope that this information has helped you in your decision to join our organization. If you have any questions regarding the Fire District or the application process, please call (509)737-0911.