Montgomery County agencies start cadet training programs to boost firefighting ranks

Montgomery County officials are turning to in-house training and community college partnerships to recruit firefighters as growth continues. 

The county has a population of nearly 700,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The population is anticipated to increase as residential development continues across the county. 

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With more people moving in comes an increase in call volume, said Jason Millsaps, executive director of the county’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. 

To be able to keep up with the 911 calls, agencies such as Porter and North Montgomery County fire departments have implemented cadet academies to recruit more staff. These cadets are paid while participating in the five to six month programs to become firefighter and EMT certified.

Porter Fire Department ran its first academy program through Lone Star College last year as part of a test, allowing two employees to participate, said Ray Vaden, deputy chief of training for the fire department. The department is anticipated to hold another academy starting in January with more participants, Vaden said. 

“What we’re seeing is, 15 to 20 years ago, we would see 20 to 30 certified personnel show up for a test that may only have two or three vacancies,” he said, noting that many applicants were certified at the time. 

That slowly transitioned to more vacancies as the county grew and fewer certified applicants, Vaden said.  With the department’s plans for future expansion, each fire station it opens will need 12 staff members to fully operate, he said. 

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“In the next coming years, we’re going to have 24 new positions that we’ve got to be able to hire and staff,” Vaden said. “We struggle sometimes just to fill immediate vacancies. We’re hoping that (the academy program), on a large scale, we’ll have a bigger market to pull from…it’s kind of a gap filler for us, a bridge to cross to hopefully get some of that recruiting and retention, get people in the door.” 

When the agency made an announcement about the program on Oct. 16, it received 40 applications, with expectations of receiving a maximum of 100 applicants before its Nov. 3 deadline, Vaden said.

Creating an in-house cadet academy

North Montgomery County Fire Department created an in-house academy in 2022 after receiving fewer applicants for job openings, said Fire Chief Jason Oliphant. The agency will be holding its second academy in January.

“We’re just trying to combat the growth as we’re adding stations,” Oliphant said. “We have one that’s going to be breaking ground in December or January. Once it’s finished, it will be another manned station. We have other stations that are in the planning phase that will also require additional staffing.” 

Typically, people will go to Texas A&M or Lone Star College to get firefighter and EMT certifications, he said. However, the institutes are not producing enough firefighters that are needed in Montgomery County and across the state, he said. 

“Every department around us is looking at creative ways to combat this issue,” Oliphant said.

On average, the agency responds to 8,000 emergency calls per year, according to information provided by the agency. When fully staffed, the agency has a total of 100 employees that staff six stations, with 29 firefighters per shift. 

For the second academy class, the agency received 165 applicants, Oliphant said. 

The deadline for application submission was Oct. 2. 

More information about Porter Fire Department’s academy

Porter Fire Department’s cadet academy begins in January, with the EMT program beginning the week after Thanksgiving, according to the agency’s website. The agency began accepting applications Oct. 16 and will stop accepting at 5 p.m. Nov. 3.

Applicants are not required to have prior experience and will not need to pay for anything, the website states. Cadets will earn a salary while attending classes for firefighter and EMT certifications. Candidates who complete both programs will go on to become full-time firefighters with the agency. 

Cadet salaries are about $38,000 annually for 23 weeks of training. 

For more information, visit porterfire.com.