Lincoln recruiting firefighters
Chief Greg Hudson remembers when he joined Lincoln Fire Rescue and Emergency Services as a volunteer firefighter 30 years ago.
It was for the Beamsville station, when it got only 78 calls a year.
Nowadays Lincoln’s four fire stations respond annually to between 100 and 500 calls, each, for a total of about 900 calls townwide.
Each time a call comes in volunteer firefighters suit up and head out to a car crash, medical incident, structure fire or any other emergency call.
With a growing town and increased turnover, the fire department is again putting out the call for volunteer firefighters.
“It’s an opportunity to serve the community in a worthwhile way,” said Hudson.
The town has a series of information sessions in November for anyone interested in becoming a volunteer. Applicants must attend one of the sessions if they hope to progress through the stages.
Sessions will take place Tuesday, Nov. 6, at the Beamsville station; Thursday, Nov. 8, at the Campden station; Tuesday, Nov. 13, at the Vineland station; and Thursday, Nov. 15, at the Jordan station. All sessions run 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Volunteer fire services today have a rigorous training and application process.
In Lincoln, the process starts with the information session. People must complete an official application, which is due by the end of November. If an applicant meets the minimum eligibility requirements they’ll be invited to take part in an aptitude appraisal, which includes 50 multiple choice questions that measure their ability to understand written and verbal information, technical and mechanical skills, as well as reading, reasoning, judgment, orientation and math skills.
Those who make it through the aptitude appraisal will then take part in interviews.
There are also police and medical evaluations, a candidate physical ability test, and a driver’s abstract submission.
In late January or early February the department will offer positions to successful applicants.
First-year firefighters can expect to take part in between 200 and 250 hours of training as rookies.
Anyone interested can find more information on the town of Lincoln’s website.