Copper Fire Intern Program - Just in the Nick of Time

With fire season thrust upon us with such speed and force, it may be comforting to know that the CFPD Board of Directors unamimously voted to fund an intern program at Copper Fire, with the intent of furnishing the citizens of Copper more firefighters on duty at all times.

The CFPD firefighter intern program, designed, presented and overseen by Training Officer and Engineer Nick Maness went into effect July 1, 2011. Maness stated that the intern program creates "more trained firefighters on duty every day responding on engines, while catering to more difficult fiscal times."
Interns cost less than fulltime firefighters, but since positions for full time firefighters do not exist, the interns are not displacing or taking potential jobs from union members. In fact, the union okayed this program.
While the stipend for an intern is low, it is considered an "educational stipend" in place to fund work related needs, ie: food, gas, cell phone, etc. "This program makes the goal of a firefighting eduction easier to accomplish."

Each intern agrees to work a 3 day on 3 day off shift and is assigned to either A or B shift. During the time of internship, if off duty they can still respond as a CFPD volunteer to emergencies.

When asked how Maness designed the program he stated that when he was an unpaid intern many years ago he developed a sense of the expectations and training that would be needed and modified them. He says he built the intern program from the ground up, designing training, education, requirements, responsibilites and expectations. Stating that the program is more objective, less subjective. But always keeping in mind the reason he was drawn to the fire fighting service "the commaraderie, the fire service family" which, though strong within each department, extends well beyond county and state lines.

Many Fire Districts in Calaveras and Tuolumne have run successful intern programs for years, benefitting the public and the financial aspect of the district, such as Ebbetts Pass, Murphys Fire, Sonora FD, Columbia FD, and Central Fire.

He is not concerned for a lack of qualified applicants, or his ability to run the program efficiently and effectively, but he does have one small concern, that in the current financial situation that all districts find themselves in that the intern program "is not a protected position" and can be cut from the budget.
According to CFPD Director Cheney with the current cuts to the state budget and the anticipated cuts to the 11/12 CFPD budget, though the intern program "is a great idea," it is not protected. She is happy that "we can do this program now" but points to the future and worries about the budget.

There are minimum requirements in place to apply for internship yet the desired qualifications are : FF1 (firefighter 1 certification from the State Fire Marshal), EMT (emergency medical technician), previous firefighting experience, and any applicable training or education applicable to the job.

CFPD Board of Directors currently has only budgeted for 2 interns and those positions were filled from within. But Maness hopes they (the Board) will see the savings and the extra service provided to the community and may possibly consider adding positions in the future. The two current interns are Jonathan Villanueva and Aaron Smith. They both voluntarily worked for the last six months as unpaid interns logging in an excess of 1500 training hours each, so the transition to their shift and the crew was seemless and smooth.

Jonathan Villanueva

Aaron Smith

By, Charity Maness