"We used to hire full-time firefighters based on their previous training," said Rick Kane, Manheim Township Fire Rescue (MTFR) chief. "About two years ago, the Civil Service Commission changed our requirements to allow us to start hiring true entry level positions, so we can hire someone and send them to the fire academy."
The fire company put that change into practice starting in late 2020, when it hired Tanner Bowers and the practice continued earlier this year when the fire company hired three new firefighters - Sam Welk, Jordan Mering, and Austin Sweigart - all of whom attended the HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College Municipal Fire Academy at the Shumaker Public Safety Center in Harrisburg. The new firefighters were officially sworn in at a Manheim Township Board of Commissioners meeting in late June.
Kane said that he notices a difference in the employees who graduate from the HACC program. "The fire academy is giving students something over and above," he said, adding that the regimented 13-week program includes emergency medical technician (EMT) training. "Previously, we hired people who had the whole list of training that (these new employees) got at HACC," he said. "They would have had to have attained that somewhere else." Kane noted that a volunteer firefighter could amass the same training, but it would take a number of years.
Because MTFR is bound by the Manheim Township Civil Service Commission and state regulations, it works with applicants who have completed a standardized written test and a pass/fail physical agility test. The applicants are ranked, and U.S. veterans receive bonus points. Kane noted that the company can only interview those who are ranked in the top three spots. "We only had 40 people apply this year," he said. "Years ago, most departments averaged hundreds of applicants for two or three jobs."
With the exception of the city of Lancaster, MTFR is the only Lancaster County fire company that employs full-time and part-time firefighters. "We now have 24 full-time and 48 part-time (firefighters)," said Kane, who noted the department also employs a deputy, fire marshal, and fleet mechanic, as well as his own position, while also being supported by a handful of volunteers. Having volunteers and paid workers makes the fire company one of the few combination companies in the state. The organization first hired part-time workers in 2010 and full-time firefighters in 2017. Kane began volunteering with the department in 1989. "We probably had 50 active firemen, with the majority living within blocks of the fire station," he recalled, adding that as the area grew and demographics changed, it became necessary to employ firefighters to provide the level of safety and protection that is necessary to the community. More information about the organization may be found at https://mtfr.net.
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