About the Monroe Volunteer Fire Department No.1 Inc.
We are NEIGHBORS helping NEIGHBORS. The Monroe Volunteer Fire Department is a 100% volunteer organization made up of men and women of various ages and backgrounds who come together to provide firefighting and non-firefighting services. Our members include college students, technicians, accountants, plumbers, truck drivers,career firefighters, EMTs, business owners, and more. We view our work as both challenging and rewarding and we have a variety of opportunities for you to serve this department and our community. Becoming a member is an excellent way to serve the community by providing an essential service,meet new people, learn new skills and experience the action and excitement associated with emergency responses. Many of our volunteers embrace the profession and go on to become career (paid) firefighters in the area -in fact, a staggering 15 members did so over the past 17 years. We are always looking for new members, including those who are not interested in becoming firefighters (also see information about our Ladies Auxiliary and Fire Police below). We recognize that family and work are priorities,so we are very flexible regarding the time commitments of our volunteers.
Ladies Auxiliary
The Ladies Auxiliary was formed in 1923, shortly after the Monroe Volunteer Fire Department was established, with the original intent to assist in fund raising activities. Those funds were critical in purchasing much of the original equipment required to form the fire department. To this day, the Ladies continue to hold fund raising events each year and the proceeds are used to purchase much needed equipment to be used at the firehouse. In recent years, the fundraisers sponsored by the Ladies include an annual Supper with Santa event, a Vendor Fair,and pancake breakfasts.
Per their bylaws, the purpose of the Ladies Auxiliary is to assist the Monroe Volunteer Fire Department in any endeavor when needed. Over the years, the Ladies' roles have included maintaining the flower beds at Station 1, providing food and drink at major fire incidents,providing refreshments at the annual open house event and assisting at other department functions. The Ladies typically meet for one hour on the first Thursday of each month, beginning at 7:30pm at Monroe Station 1 (18 Shelton Rd / RT 110).
Some of our Ladies Auxiliary members are mother-daughter combinations. While most of the members of the Ladies Auxiliary tend to be the wives, daughters, mothers and girlfriends of our firefighters, they welcome all women who are willing to assist, and in fact several of today's members joined without having a direct tie to the firefighters. Members must be at least 16 years old and do not need to reside in Monroe. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Ladies 'Auxiliary please contact Jenna Krize at [email protected].
See the Officers/Members section for a list of Auxiliary contacts.
Juniors
The purpose of our Junior department is to introduce young people to the fire service and to assist the members of the department around the fire stations and at emergency scenes. Our Junior firefighters are typically age 16 and 17, and the vast majority become probationary firefighters within the "senior" department once they turn 18. In fact, a large percentage of our firefighters first entered the fire service as junior members, including most of our current chief and line officers. The juniors have their own officer structure but are closely supervised by several members of the senior department,who serve as junior advisors.
While junior firefighters are an integral part of our operations, their responsibilities are limited in certain respects due to safety and regulatory considerations, given they are under the age of 18. At the station, duties of the Juniors include cleaning of the trucks,equipment and buildings. At emergency scenes, duties are limited to exterior operations including retrieving tools from the apparatus, setting up scene lighting, advancing hose lines, replacing air bottles, assisting with accountability,rolling hose and scene clean up. Juniors are issued firefighting gear,but their coat and helmet colors clearly differentiate them from senior firefighters so that they are kept out of more hazardous situations.
Juniors also participate in most training activities alongside the senior firefighters , to the extent allowable.Our juniors train each Tuesday evening with the senior firefighters beginning at 7pm, and the juniors sometimes meet as a separate group to train on Thursday evenings as well.
Being a junior firefighter helps promote the qualities of teamwork, dedication, community service, and communication and also provides job skills that can be used in the future as a career firefighter, or for other occupations.
If you are interested in becoming a junior firefighter please download the application above and fill out all applicable sections and check off "Junior Firefighter" at the top. Follow the given instructions for application submission. If you have any questions, feel free to email the membership chair, Kimberly Cassia.