KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Fire Department is looking for good people to take on a rewarding, but often dangerous, career.
Commanders say they’re having trouble finding good candidates who want to become rescue workers.
There’s currently a class of new recruits receiving training to work as firefighters.
Although the city’s proposed budget for next year calls for a hiring freeze, that doesn’t affect public safety worker positions that must be filled. Ordinarily when the fire department has an open position, it gets up to 2,000 applications. But for their latest openings, the department says it has only received about 150 applications. The department is eager for minorities and women to apply.
“We have a population, just to mention blacks of about 30 percent,” said Battalion Chief James Garrett of the KCFD. “We don’t have that population on the fire department. So we’re looking to boost those numbers. What we’re finding is we don’t have enough minorities applying because I don’t think they find it as a viable job option.”
To qualify to be a firefighter, you must be a Kansas City resident who is at least 19 years old, but not older than 30. And you must be a high school graduate with a valid driver’s license.
The dangers of the job sometimes scare off candidates, but firefighters say the rewards of helping others in your community are great.
Click the following link to read the KCFD firefighter recruitment flier.
