Lincoln Fire & Rescue recruiting like wildfire amid national shortage

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Lincoln Fire & Rescue department is currently looking for new firefighters and EMTs.

Officials say departments across the nation are facing shortages, and they’ve had to compete with towns around Lincoln for candidates.

Spokeswoman MJ Lierman said right now there’s room for several positions.

“They get a lot of interaction within the community, we do a lot of community service and involvement which is fun,” she said. “You work together, and it blends your crew into something that can be there for every person that we might need to be serving.”

Captain Jon Reed said he’s been doing the job for 17 years and loves it.

“Originally, I was going to school, thought I wanted to be a teacher,” he said. “While deployed with the army to Afghanistan I was able to help some people with things I learned in a combat life saver course. So, I started pursuing the EMT and paramedic thing thinking that was something I could do for a living.”

To become a firefighter, you must be a U.S. citizen, be at least 19 years old, have a high school diploma, and be EMT certified.

Once you’re hired, you’ll go through a training academy for 18 weeks before being put on a fire rig.

Firefighters in Lincoln have a starting pay of about $63,000 a year, plus benefits like tuition reimbursement.

The city’s hiring period goes from March 1-17.