BOISE, Idaho — The Meridian Fire Department (MFD) is expanding by 40%, according to MFD Public Information Officer Kelsey Johnson.
The department will open two new fire stations in fall 2023 behind previous Meridian City Council approval in the 2022 fiscal year budget. At minimum, MFD needs nine firefighters to staff one station, according to Meridian Fire Division Chief of Training Jordan Reese.
Meridian Fire aims to hire and train 30 firefighters and five administrative/executive roles by fall 2023. These positions and additional stations are necessary to keep pace with - and anticipate - rapid growth in the area.
"With that comes a lot of training, a lot of developing. It's an exciting time to be part of, but there is a lot of work that comes with it as well," Reese said. "Firefighting in general is a pretty selective position. We'll get hundreds of applicants for entry level positions, just for a couple positions."
Currently, nine firefighters are going through MFD's fall lateral academy. Lateral firefighters come from other fire departments with previous experience.
A lateral academy is five weeks long, as opposed to a 16-week academy for entry-level recruits.
"It's kind of rare to have this many laterals wanting to come to one department. It speaks to what we're doing here and what we got going on in the valley. People want to be part of it," Reese said. "Just off the top of my head in this academy, we've got Arizona, California, Washington represented, and Idaho represented. It is a wide birth of people across the western part of the country."
Jens Tapio is currently in the lateral academy. He comes from Clark County, Wash. He has been a full-time firefighter for five years before coming to Meridian.
"For my wife and I, we had traveled through the area a lot through the past few years just doing outdoor activities and seeing what the area had to offer. We really were intrigued by the area and the community," Tapio said. "It was an easy but tough decision to make at the same time."
The lateral academy teaches firefighters department-specific operations, according to Tapio. While lateral firefighters do have advantages, Meridian Fire still has their eye on rookies.
"There's also advantages to doing the entry-level positions. We're currently recruiting for that," Reese said. "They bring a newness to the role and youth to the position. I think it will be a good balance for both for us as we look to fill these 30 positions."
The Meridian Fire Department is slowly recruiting the 30 new firefighters over time, rather than a large group all at once.
"I think we are coming in at a unique time in this department," Tapio said. "The city is going through a lot of growth The department is growing by a third. Being able to come in at this time and be part of a pivotal and historic moment for this department is really cool."
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