NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Fire Chief Steven Beer is pleased with the amount of applicants they were able to hire for the new firefighter class that starts after the Labor Day holiday.
"Actually, Sept. 6, we're going to have 10 new recruits coming in here," Beer said. "We've been blessed. We had 16 applicants apply and we hired 10 is my understanding. The last interview was yesterday. We're eager to get them starting on Sept. 6, they'll go through an eight week academy and after the eight weeks, they'll be on line."
One of the many areas they will go over during that time is wildland firefighting.
"They go through, actually, a full week of red card preparation," Beer said. "Red card certification is a national program. We're the only department in Reno County that is red card certified. That is a minimum qualification that you need to go out on these deployments that we go out on, too. If we go anywhere else in the state, it's good to have that certification. We bring in state resources here, the Kansas Forestry Service, they come in, they assist in teaching that class during the week, during the recruit academy. That is a huge part of what we do, day in and day out."
Beer said he doesn't think there's been a week go by without at least one wildland fire call for the past several months.