Volunteer Firefighters

Welcome to the Placer County Fire Department. In the Unincorporated areas of Placer County, fire services are provided by CALFIRE and volunteer fire companies. There are six volunteer fire companies within Placer County. Five of them; Dry Creek, Fruitvale-Fowler, Thermalands, Paige and Sheridan are surrounding the Lincoln City area, the sixth volunteer company is in the Dutch Flat community. All volunteer companies in Placer County Fire are dispatched and administered by CALFIRE.

Becoming a volunteer Firefighter is a rewarding experience and an excellent opportunity to serve your community. However, it involves a considerable commitment to meet and maintain training requirements and respond to incidents. Like their paid counterparts, volunteer firefighters respond to a number of different incident types including, but not limited to: emergency medical, hazardous material, technical rescue, natural disasters, wild land fires, structure fires, vehicle collisions, and public assists.

We acknowledge that not everyone who wants to volunteer for their community is interested in becoming a full attack firefighter. To help meet the needs of both the volunteer fire companies and potential volunteers, Placer County Fire has established five different volunteer positions:

Support Volunteer: Provide a less demanding but just as important contribution to the fire department including administration work, fund raising, and providing support to fire personnel committed to large incidents.

Emergency Medical Responder: Volunteers in this position meet the training requirements to respond to designated incidents and perform specific functions as an EMS and Support Volunteer.

Water Tender Operator: Volunteers in this position are certified to drive and operate a Water Tender

Volunteer Firefighter: Volunteers in this position meet the training requirements to respond to all incidents as a full attack firefighter.

Volunteer Firefighter Operator/Engineer: Volunteers in this position meet the training requirements to respond to all incidents as a fully trained firefighter and are certified to operate specified fire apparatus.

*All candidates are encouraged to conduct a self-screening process prior to applying: 

  • Are you at least 18 years old?
  • Are you in good health?
  • Are you able to meet the physical demands of desired position?
  • Do you have a criminal record?
  • Do you have a questionable driving record?

The procedures for joining a volunteer fire company are as follows:

  1. Call 530-889-0111: you will be put in contact with a CAL Fire Chief who will assess your interest, answer questions, and refer you to a Volunteer Fire Station Captain based on where you live. Or, contact your local volunteer fire station directly.
  2. Submit a “show of interest” application.
  3. Satisfactorily complete an oral interview.
  4. Submit a formal application.
  5. Attend your sponsoring volunteer company training while attending formal training for up to three consecutive months.
  6. Satisfactorily complete classroom and hands-on training as required by each position. Training is provided by CALFIRE employees and the dates and times are announced prior to each training session.
  7. You are required to attend at least 75% of the Department training meetings per quarter. The Department formal company trainings are generally two evenings per month, as well as one Saturday per month. There may be additional meetings depending on individual needs or policies. Should you be attending qualified training on fire related subjects, you may be excused from the normal Department formal training.
  8. During the hours that you are available to respond to calls, you are expected to make at least 75% of those calls per quarter.
  9. Maintain grooming standards as set forth by CAL FIRE
  10. After completing all initial training, you will be on probation for six months.

Welcome and thank you for your interest in serving in your community.