Rob Martinson has seen a lot of changes in the 30-plus years he’s been a firefighter, one of those changes has been an ongoing challenge for the Conover Fire and Rescue Chief.
“The first 15 years of me being on the department, it was no problem to get people, and now it's like pulling teeth,” said Martinson.
It’s an issue that’s not unique to Conover. Nationwide, volunteer departments are struggling to recruit people, especially younger people.
According to the National Volunteer Fire Council, more than a third of firefighters are over the age of 50 in departments that protect fewer than 2,500 people, which are almost all volunteer. In many rural areas it is not uncommon to find volunteers in their 60s or 70s.
To try and get more people interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter, Conover Fire and Rescue started a junior firefighter program six years ago.
Local high school students can do some training alongside the firefighters and even independently.
Martinson says it’s taken some time, but he feels the program is successful with getting younger people involved in the fire department.
“There's been times where I've gone past the firehouse here and these kids are actually in here, training by themselves and working with equipment and everything. It just goes to show you what the program does do. It gets them motivated,” said Martinson.
Gaining the skills
More recently, those junior firefighters have had the opportunity to become certified firefighters through a course at Nicolet College offered at Northland Pines High School.
Grace Indermuehle is a Jr. Firefighter who recently earned Fire 1 state certification. She says being in the junior program while going through the course gave her extra experience to practice what she was learning.
“You get to build the connections with people, and you get to train with the stuff that you're going to be doing before you actually have to do it,” said Indermuehle.
Kaiden Lagueux is another Jr Firefighter to recently complete the certification.
“You learn just how to work as a team and how to not take things personally,” he said.
“I've learned from different trainings, like how to perform hunter safety and rescue, or, you know, how to approach a scene. Sticking with the patient is always a good thing to do now.”
Because of the Town of Conover’s insurance requirements, Indermuehle and Lagueux are still Junior Firefighters until they turn 18.
Hunter Barnekow, who also went through the program, is old enough to now be a volunteer firefighter for the department.
“If I wouldn't have gone through the class or nothing like that, I wouldn't know what they're doing, and then I'd just be a liability out there. Now I what I'm doing, and I can help out,” said Barnekow. “I feel a lot more confident and all that and knowing what to do. It's a fun time.”
Joining the junior firefighter program and going this route was part of their way of giving back to their community and following in the footsteps of many of their family members.
“I've always liked helping out people and knowing that my dad's on the fire department, it makes me want to be on the fire department, because seeing him do it, I always wanted to do it,” said Barnekow.
“My whole family's like, in firefighting or EMT somehow, so I was like, ‘Oh, that's like, a perfect way to get in,’” said Indermuehle. “Our fire department helps give back to the community a lot. We have a lot of different things to help.”
“My dad is an officer. I kind of wanted to just have another thing to relate to him with, and I kind of liked helping people as well,” said Lagueux.
Benefit for community and students
Martinson says it’s taken a few years but feels like the program is starting to hit its stride and expand beyond people that have a direct connection to the fire department. He loves to see the students go through the program at Conover Fire and Rescue.
“I like seeing the hunger in their eyes. That's what I like. It brings back the reason why I joined the fire department,” said Martinson.
There’s not a lot of fire departments in the area that offer junior firefighter programs, it means that Conover has pulled in a couple students from places like Land O’Lakes and Eagle River for theirs.
“I came in with no experience, nothing. They took me in. All of them took me under their wing. They've been super kind and patient with me,” said Sarah Nordine from Land O’Lakes. “It's really nice having a group of people that just support me through it.”
Nordine is a junior firefighter who is planning to take the course at Nicolet College, but she’s already getting a lot of experience through the program at Conover Fire and Rescue.
“We just did a ladder truck and a hunter rescue training,” said Nordine. “That was cool to me, because I've hunted my whole life and had no idea how to rescue someone. That's been really, really fun for me.”
The Town of Conover pays for the junior firefighters to go through the Nicolet program if they choose to. For the town and fire department, it’s a way to get more firefighters.
There is some balance between training new firefighters versus investing more training in firefighters already there. Funding for both comes out of their training budget.
Martinson says the department feels its worth it to get more people interested in becoming firefighters.
It’s also a good way to get firefighters at this level, only a handful of current Conover firefighters have this level of certification.
“I think it works out great. It brings the kids into the firehouse, and it actually corrects the adults at the same time, because the new stuff that they learn, they tell us,” said Martinson.
Workforce needs
Nicolet College Fire and Emergency Medical Services Specialist Ray Lemke says the program is a win-win. Communities can benefit from having people with these skills and high school students can get a leg up in their career.
“Giving them the opportunity to explore and to experience what fire, EMS, and law enforcement are about at that age level, to help make career determinations and career decisions moving forward or to stay in the local community and be a volunteer for their local organizations,” said Lemke.
Jason Goldner says getting high school students interested in jobs in the public safety sector can help with short term and long term workforce needs. He’s the Associate Dean of Public Safety at Nicolet College.
“We can get that motivation and get those students in the fire departments right now. Whether it's a volunteer or a career, same with the EMS, track. I mean, there's different paths, and not just being a firefighter or being a medic, but there's so many other occupations that this can roll into,” said Goldner.
Nicolet College offers similar courses at other area high schools, including a firefighting program at Tomahawk and an EMS program at Three Lakes.
Lemke encourages anyone interested in public safety careers to reach out, he’s always happy to talk with them and give them a tour of the facility.
In Conover, Martinson is hopeful the courses and junior firefighter program will continue to grow.
“If they can keep going, and we can keep this class going, and we get more people interested, I think it would help our fire, at least the fire departments around here, maybe even EMS around this whole area. If we can just keep this whole thing going, if all the schools in the area could do this, man, I think that would help a lot,” said Martinson.
