{"id":28414,"date":"2025-08-25T18:59:34","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T22:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=28414"},"modified":"2025-08-25T18:59:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T22:59:35","slug":"depleted-decatur-fire-dept-taking-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/25\/depleted-decatur-fire-dept-taking-apps\/","title":{"rendered":"Depleted Decatur fire dept. taking apps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By BOB SHRALUKA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The depleted Decatur Fire Department is now taking applications for career (full-time) firefighters and paid-on-call (POC) firefighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Applications packets for both positions are available at the fire station, 206 S.7th St., between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A packet also may be downloaded from the City of Decatur website: www.cityofdecatur.in.gov<\/a>
Completed applications should be taken to City Hall in downtown Decatur, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. They also may be emailed to: applications@cityofdecatur.in.gov<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deadline to apply is 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief Jeff Sheets said career firefighters work a 24.5-hour shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Applicants must be 21 years of age and not have reached 40 years of age at the time of hire (a state requirement).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lateral applications (from a current firefighter located elsewhere) will be accepted. Those applicants must be 21 and a member of the 1977 Police and Firefighter Pension Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting wage for career firefighters is $55,842 and the pension base is $63,104.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among benefits are a pension; life insurance; medical, prescription, dental and vision coverage; on-the-job personal injury policy; paid vacation, holiday and sick time; PPE provided; annual clothing allowance of $1,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ONE-THIRD GONE: The department recently lost three of its nine career firefighters and is operating severely shorthanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three departures leave the department with six regulars, plus Chief Sheets and Deputy Chief Chad Baumann.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheets, however, recently told city council that \u201ceverything is being covered. We are moving shifts around so we will have everything covered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sheets has one likely addition to the full-time staff: Maddux Hillery of Union City, Indiana. Although he would need local training, it would be a lateral move since he is already on the state’s 1977 Police and Firefighter Pension Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the severe loss of numbers, Decatur’s board of works and safety moved to suspend the normal hiring process and gave Sheets the go-ahead to get Hillery on board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

PAID-ON-CALLS: A city ordinance change now allows 18-year-olds to be added to the POC staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

POCs are paid $18.65 for the first hour of response to an incident, then, $15.22 for each additional hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special responses and scheduled monthly training are compensated at the rate of $15.22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The POCs receive all personnel protective fire equipment, an on-the-job personal injury policy, and a bi-annual fuel and clothing allowance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEEDED; Following are the needed qualifications for both career and POC positions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Be a high school graduate or possess a High School Equivalency or GED.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Possess a valid driver\u2019s license with an acceptable (insurable) driving record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Live in the townships Decatur serves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Proudly supporting local athletes and their coverage on WZBD.com!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Have no record of felony convictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Have no misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 If prior military, be honorably discharged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Hold current certifications in Firefighter I & II, NIMS 100, 200, 700 & 800, Hazmat Operations, EMR (Minimum of Emergency Medical Responder certification is required). Or be willing to obtain these certifications promptly as they become available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Be of good moral character and possess a high degree of honesty and integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Possess an acceptable level of verbal and written skills to execute the essential duties and functions of the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Possess an acceptable level of dexterity to execute the essential duties and functions of the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Possess the ability to interact appropriately with the public, employees, team members, elected officials, and others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By BOB SHRALUKA WZBD.com The depleted Decatur Fire Department is now taking applications for career (full-time) firefighters and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28415,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[14,15,21],"class_list":["post-28414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-decatur","tag-featured","tag-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Decatur-fire-logo-big-Copy.jpg?fit=526%2C526&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28416,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28414\/revisions\/28416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}