Come be a part of something bigger when you join us to help keep your community safe. | Requirements: No experience necessary the Columbia Falls Fire Department will provide all the training you need. | Categories: Firefighter

Help spread the word about our upcoming events by posting flyers in the community. We are also looking for leads on cheap or free flyer printing.

Assist our Maker of the Month with the setup and cleanup of their workshop. This is a great opportunity to engage with the community and support local artists.

Assist in documenting our events, tools, and facilities through photography and videography. This role is crucial for promoting our activities and engaging with the community.

Help host our booth at The Whitefish Farmers Market by engaging with visitors and leading a creative activity. We ideally need two volunteers per market, one to talk about The Making Place and another to lead the activity.

WHITEFISH FIRE DEPARTMENT 275 Flathead Avenue – PO Box 158 – Whitefish, Montana 59937 REFERENCE GUIDE VOLUNTEER APPLICATION PROCESS, INITIAL TRAINING REQUIREMENTS & MEMBERSHIP EXPECTATIONS Purpose: In order to provide depth and breadth to our career firefighter staffing the Whitefish Fire Department shall operate and maintain a group of volunteer firefighters. This guide is intended to layout the requirements for membership, the application process, and ongoing expectations of a volunteer firefighter for the City of Whitefish Fire Department. Scope: This Reference Guide is used as a tool to help potential candidates understand the process, requirements, and commitment they’re making should they decide to apply. This document does not supersede any rules, regulations, or policies of the City of Whitefish or the Whitefish Fire Department. If you have the DESIRE, the ABILITY, but most importantly the TIME we’d love to have you apply to volunteer as an Operational Reserve. Operational Reserves are volunteer firefighters who support our career Firefighter/EMS-Providers in any number of different job areas by responding to emergency calls and working as part of our team. Benefits: Free fire, hazmat, ICS, and wildland training with medical CE opportunities. Volunteer Firefighter Pension and the opportunity to serve the community. Limited per call reimbursement. Standard abbreviations AEMT – Advanced Emergency Medical Technician CIS – Critical Incident Stress CPAT – Candidate Physical Agility Test EMR – Emergency Medical Responder EMS – Emergency Medical Services EMT – Emergency Medical Technician IAFF – International Association of Fire Fighters (the labor union) IPAT – Incumbent Physical Agility Test NFPA – National Fire Protection Agency NWCG – National Wildland Coordinating Group PPE – Personal Protective Equipment SAP – Standard Administrative Policies SOG – Standard Operational Guidelines JPP-0511-2016 APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS {per Montana Code Annotated 7-33-4107 & the Whitefish FD} ___ 1. Must be a citizen of the United States; ___ 2. Must reside within the City of Whitefish or the surrounding Rural Fire Service Area; consideration may be given to applicants residing outside the Whitefish Fire Department response area based on the ability to meet the emergency response requirements. ___ 3. Must be 18-years of age or older; ___ 4. Must hold a valid high school diploma or GED; ___ 5. Must possess or be eligible for a valid Montana or out-of-state Driver’s License. A valid Montana Driver’s License must be obtained prior to completing probation; ___ 6. Must not have been convicted of a crime for which the applicant could have been imprisoned in a Federal or State penitentiary; and ___ 7. Shall be able to successfully complete the Whitefish Fire Department’s physical exam, appropriate CPAT (Candidate’s Physical Agility Test) and a comprehensive background check. APPLICATION PROCESS ___ 1. Submit a completed Whitefish Fire Department’s Operational Reserve Application; ___ 2. Submit a completed Personal Physician’s Approval form; ___ 3. Submit a copy of your current driver’s license and driver’s history report; ___ 4. Submit a list of three references we can contact; ___ 5. Meet with either the Fire Chief, other Chief Officer, or a Captain to: ___ - review job requirements and expectations (emphasis on the TIME COMMITMENT); ___ - sign background check permission forms; ___ - sign confidentiality form; ___ - schedule a 7am to 7pm ride-along with each shift (A, B, and C); and ___ - tour facility / Q&A. SELECTION PROCESS ___ 1. Applicant completes a ½ shift ride-along with A-shift; ___ 2. Applicant completes a ½ shift ride-along with B-shift; ___ 3. Applicant completes a ½ shift ride-along with C-shift; ___ 4. Applicant completes appropriate CPAT during any one of their ride-alongs; ___ 5. Officers meet and review; application, references, background check, and inputs from each shift ride-along. Selection is made. ___ 6. Applicant notified. JPP-0511-2016 MEMBERSHIP CLASSIFICATION TERMS Applicant: A person who has submitted a completed application and is active in the selection process. Probationary Firefighter: AKA Probie. The first 6-month period of time allowing the volunteer to learn the position, demonstrate the time commitment needed to be successful, and for the Fire Department’s Officers to evaluate a volunteer’s potential and performance. During the probationary period the Fire Chief may terminate a volunteer with or without cause. Candidate: A volunteer working towards completion of the initial training requirements for at least one of the volunteer firefighter job descriptions. Rookie: A firefighter during their first year on the job. A fire service tradition where a new firefighter demonstrates their commitment to the job, this is NOT a hazing period. During this year the new firefighter builds the relationships needed to be a successful member of our highly effective team. Operational: A firefighter who has met all the initial requirements and maintains the incumbent requirements for one or more of the specific volunteer firefighter job positions; Ambulance Driver, EMS-Provider, Exterior Firefighter, Interior Firefighter, Driver/Operator, or Commissioned Firefighter. Commissioned Firefighter: A firefighter who has met all the requirements for the all encompassing job of a Firefighter/EMS-Provider for the City of Whitefish Fire Department. {Same requirements as our career Firefighter/EMS-Providers} FIRE DEPARTMENT AND RELATED ORGANIZATIONS Whitefish Fire Department: A department within the City of Whitefish that through an intergovernmental agreement also provides fire and rescue services to the surrounding Whitefish Fire Service Area and EMS to a portion of the county through an agreement with Flathead County EMS. We are a combination fire department with firefighters who are paid to do the job and those who volunteer to do the job. Whitefish Fire Service Area: An area outside the City of Whitefish governed by an appointed Board of Trustees who contract with the City for fire protection. Whitefish Professional Firefighters Association: The full time career Firefighters’ and Company Officers’ (Captains and Lieutenants) labor union; IAFF Local 3995. JPP-0511-2016 Whitefish Firefighter Association, Inc.: A not-for-profit membership organization made up of all operational firefighters (Chief Officers and Firefighters: career, part-time, and volunteer) organized to support the mission of the Whitefish Fire Department. Fire Department Relief Association of the City of Whitefish, Inc.: An organization that monitors and manages the volunteer firefighter pension funds. {Montana Code Annotated Title 19, Chapter 18}. FIRE DEPARTMENT POSITIONS Fire Chief: Shall have sole command and control over all persons connected with the fire department {Montana Code Annotated 7-33-4104}. Assistant Chief(s): Shall assist the Fire Chief and in the Chief’s absence perform the Chief’s duties. The City Council shall determine the number of Assistant Fire Chiefs. Fire Marshal: Assists the Fire Chief in providing fire prevention and investigation services for the City of Whitefish. This position may be combined with an Assistant Chief position. Captain: One of three on-duty shift managers that run the day to day operations of the fire department during their shift. Captains are members of IAFF Local 3995. Lieutenant: A layer of supervision that would assist the Captains, at this time the Whitefish Fire Department does not fill this position. Lieutenants would be members of IAFF Local 3995. Career Firefighters: Are Commissioned Firefighters that are full time employees working for the City of Whitefish and members of IAFF Local 3995. Part-Time Firefighters: Are Commissioned Firefighters that are unscheduled part-time employees of the City of Whitefish that respond to emergency incidents and may fill a career slot per the City’s agreement with IAFF 3995. Part-time Firefighters are not represented by the union, IAFF 3995. Operational Reserve Firefighters: Are volunteer Firefighters who fill one or more of the specific volunteer job positions in support of the fire department’s emergency response. Non-Operational Reserves: Are volunteers who donate their time to assist the fire department in their area of expertise that does not include emergency response, for example; clerical, historian, chaplain, or other duties as agreed to by the Fire Chief. JPP-0511-2016 INITIAL APPLICATION PAPERWORK CHECK-LIST: ___ - Completed application ___ - List of References we can contact ___ - Completed Physician Approval Form ___ - Copy of High School Diploma or GED ___ - Copy of Montana Driver’s License ___ - Copy of Driver’s History Report ___ - Copy of any Fire, EMS, Wildland or Rescue certifications ___ - Completed CPAT (Whitefish’s Candidate Physical Agility Test) ___ - Completed I-9 ___ - Successful background check ___ - Completed Emergency Contact Sheet ___ - Signed Acknowledgement City’s Personnel Policy INITIAL ISSUED PAPERWORK, PPE, UNIFORMS, ETC. ___ - Copy of the City of Whitefish Rules and Regulations; ___ - Copy of the Whitefish Fire Department’s SAPs and SOGs; ___ - Probationary Red Rookie tee shirt; ___ - Blue BDU pants provided by candidate; ___ - Black boots or shoes provided by candidate; ___ - PPE based on job position working towards, provided by the fire dept.; ___ - Gear locker space at station 21 INITIAL WHITEFISH FIRE DEPARTMENT ORIENTATION TRAINING ___ - Intro to the City of Whitefish Fire Department ___ - City Policy, FD’s SAPs and SOGs ___ - Chain of Command ___ - HIPAA ___ - Infection Control ___ - Paper Work (attendance, training, roster, 1st report of injury, etc.) ___ - HAZCOM / MSDS ___ - Lockout / Tagout ___ - CIS INITIAL WFD TRAINING, REQUIRED OF ALL OPERATIONAL POSITIONS ___ - American Heart Association’s CPR for the Professional Rescuer ___ - FEMA’s Incident Command IS-700, IS-100, and IS-200 (available online) ___ - Hazmat Awareness per NFPA 472 JPP-0511-2016 INITIAL TRAINING FOR EACH VOLUNTEER OPERATIONAL POSITION Operational reserves are volunteers who fill one or more of our Whitefish Fire Department job positions. A volunteer shall be classified as probationary for at least 6-months, and until they complete at least one of the operational reserve positions. Any probationary member failing to complete the requirements for at least one position within the year will automatically be dropped from the operational reserve rolls. Initial Training for Operational Reserve Ambulance Driver ___ - Must have completed all the Initial FD Orientation Training (see above). ___ - Must have completed all the Initial FD Operational Training (see above). ___ - Must hold a valid Montana EMR, EMT, AEMT, or Paramedic license. ___ - Successfully completed the Whitefish FD’s Emergency Vehicle Driver Course. ___ - Successfully complete the WFD’s Ambulance Driver Task Book with approval signatures from each shift Captain. Initial Training for Operational Reserve EMS Provider ___ - Must have completed all the Initial FD Orientation Training (see above). ___ - Must have completed all the Initial FD Operational Training (see above). ___ - Must hold a valid Montana EMT, AEMT, or Paramedic license. ___ - Successfully complete the WFD’s EMS-Provider Task Book with approval signatures from each shift Captain. Initial Training for Operational Reserve Exterior Firefighter (non-SCBA use) ___ - Must have completed all the Initial FD Orientation Training (see above). ___ - Must have completed all the Initial FD Operational Training (see above). ___ - Must complete the following portions of NFPA Firefighter 1 - Fire Service History - NFPA 1500 Safety - Accountability - PPE - Communications - Fire Behavior - Building Construction - Scene lighting - Fire extinguishers - Rope webbing knots - Forcible entry - Ground ladders - Water Supply - Fire Hose - Public Education - Fire Inspection / preplanning ___ - May complete NWCG Wildland Firefighter Type 2 (FFT2) JPP-0511-2016 Initial Training for Operational Reserve Interior Firefighter ___ - Must have completed all the Initial FD Orientation Training (see above). ___ - Must have completed all the Initial FD Operational Training (see above). ___ - Must successfully complete NFPA’s Hazardous Material Awareness & Operations ___ - Must successfully complete NFPA’s Firefighter I and II ___ - Must successfully complete NWCG’s Wildland Firefighter Type 2 (FFT2) Initial Training for Operational Reserve Driver / Operator ___ - Must have completed all the Initial FD Orientation Training (see above). ___ - Must have completed all the Initial FD Operational Training (see above). ___ - Successfully completed the Whitefish FD’s Emergency Vehicle Driver Course. ___ - Successfully complete each of the WFD’s Driver Task Book with approval from each shift Captain for each vehicle category: - Brush trucks (type 6 engines) - Tenders - Rescue - Fire Engines (type 1 engines) ___ - May complete WFD’s Driver Task Books with Captains’ approval for: - UTV - Hover Craft - Fire Boat Initial Training for an “Extra Board” position which would allow the volunteer to fill a vacancy in the onduty staffing level when none of the career staff is available. ___ - Operational Reserve EMS-Provider ___ - Operational Reserve Interior Firefighter ___ - Operational Reserve Driver / Operator INCUMBENT MEMBERS’ REQUIREMENTS In order to truly meet the purpose of the WFD Volunteer Program our volunteers’ must respond to emergency calls and assist the career staff in meeting the operational duties of the Whitefish Fire Department. Emergency response is a PARTICIPATION team activity. As Chief Alan Brunacini says, “It’s all about who shows up and goes to work”. To be quite honest for those volunteers interested in the position of Ambulance Driver and/or EMS-Provider that means: 1. Spending time at the station where the Captain can assign you a position on our 1st out ambulance. 2. Being on-call where the Captain could contact you for our scheduled IFT. 3. Respond to the station whenever the 1st ambulance rolls to cover the 2nd out ambulance. For those volunteers interested I assisting during fire and rescue situations you either need to be here to respond with the crew or be cleared to drive and operate our vehicles so when you respond you can bring equipment to the scene. JPP-0511-2016 INCUMBENT TRAINING REQUIREMENTS **Under development** Once a volunteer is cleared to operate in one or more of the job positions they must maintain the position by meeting the MINIMUM requirements for each position listed below. Besides the training requirements placed upon us by governing agencies like OSHA, Montana’s Board of Medical Examiners, FEMA, NWCG, ISO, and the NFPA, to name a few, firefighting is a team sport and we must practice together as a team. The world we operate in is always changing so we must maintain the knowledge and skills obtained during our initial training and develop new knowledge and skills to keep pace with our changing world. More important that an individual’s knowledge and skills is synergy of our team that can only be developed by training and working together. In the nut shell that means, “SHOW UP”. Training for Operational Reserve Ambulance Driver ___ - Must maintain a valid Montana EMR, EMT, AEMT, or Paramedic license. ___ - Must attend a yearly driver safety training Training for Operational Reserve EMS Provider ___ - Must maintain a valid Montana EMT, AEMT, or Paramedic license. ___ - Must attend XX-hours of EMS training per year Training for Operational Reserve Exterior Firefighter (non-SCBA use) ___ - Must attend XX-hours of Firefighter Training per year ___ - Must attend XX-hours of Hazmat Training per year ___ - Must attend XX-hours of Wildland Training per year Training for Operational Reserve Interior Firefighter ___ - Must attend XX-hours of Firefighter Training per year ___ - Must attend XX-hours of smoke/live-fire training per year ___ - Must attend XX-hours of Hazmat Training per year ___ - Must attend XX-hours of Wildland Training per year Training for Operational Reserve Driver / Operator ___ - Must attend a yearly driver safety training ___ - Must attend XX-hours of fire training per year Training for an Extra Board position are required to maintain all of the following: ___ - Operational Reserve EMS-Provider ___ - Operational Reserve Interior Firefighter ___ - Operational Reserve Driver / Operator | Requirements: see above | Categories: Firefighter, EMT

Help with water quality monitoring efforts on the North and Middle Forks of the Flathead Wild & Scenic River. Volunteers will gather baseline monitoring data to understand the impacts of river usage and climate trends, running from May through October.

Join the River Ambassador team and serve as liaisons with the public at popular river access sites along the Three Forks of the Flathead Wild and Scenic River. Volunteers are required to commit to a minimum of four 2-hour shifts between Memorial Day and Labor Day, providing safety tips, river information, and collecting user data.

Participate in a citizen science river recreation monitoring program where trained volunteers collect data on river users, wildlife, and invasive species while floating the river. This opportunity enhances data sets collected by agency partners and helps focus education and resources.

As a volunteer with 406 For Kids, you will provide emotional support and practical assistance to families with sick children. Responsibilities may include running errands, offering companionship, and helping to create a positive environment for families during difficult times.