Community Articles (listed by posting date)
General News · 24th March 2025
Eli
The Cortes Island Fire Department is recruiting for our Wildfire Brigade!
The Wildfire Brigade protects the island during major wildfire events, with wildland firefighting, structural protection, and support tasks. In a deployment Wildland members will work in teams supervised by department officers or team leaders. It’s also a great way to get to know the department if you are curious about joining as a regular member in the fall.
Cortes residents, including summer residents, who are able to attend the Basic Training and meet minimum medical and fitness requirements are eligible to apply. If you run, play soccer, exercise, or do physical work you should have no trouble with the fitness test.
Basic training for this year will be Saturday and Sunday, April 5-6 from 8:30 till 4:30 and will be held at Firehall #1 on Beesley Rd. Lunch will be provided.
This year the Wildfire Brigade will participate with other department members in the Wildland Firefighter - Level 1 (WSPP-WFF1) course, which is the provincially mandated basic wildfire training for fire departments. Following basic training we will hold monthly wildfire drills for all members during the spring and summer months.
Online ICS100 training is also required, and can be completed during the following week. ICS100 normally takes 3-5 hours to complete, and is a self paced online course.
The annual training schedule will include basic training (or refresher as applicable) once per year, plus 2 to 4 practice nights.
There is no cost to join, and all training and required equipment will be supplied by the department.
Applications can be found online at cortesfire.org (Or by copying and pasting the link https://form.jotform.com/240993804584265 ).
Please email chiefcortesfire.org for more information.
Elijah McKenty,
Cortes Island Fire Chief
The Wildfire Brigade protects the island during major wildfire events, with wildland firefighting, structural protection, and support tasks. In a deployment Wildland members will work in teams supervised by department officers or team leaders. It’s also a great way to get to know the department if you are curious about joining as a regular member in the fall.
Cortes residents, including summer residents, who are able to attend the Basic Training and meet minimum medical and fitness requirements are eligible to apply. If you run, play soccer, exercise, or do physical work you should have no trouble with the fitness test.
Basic training for this year will be Saturday and Sunday, April 5-6 from 8:30 till 4:30 and will be held at Firehall #1 on Beesley Rd. Lunch will be provided.
This year the Wildfire Brigade will participate with other department members in the Wildland Firefighter - Level 1 (WSPP-WFF1) course, which is the provincially mandated basic wildfire training for fire departments. Following basic training we will hold monthly wildfire drills for all members during the spring and summer months.
Online ICS100 training is also required, and can be completed during the following week. ICS100 normally takes 3-5 hours to complete, and is a self paced online course.
The annual training schedule will include basic training (or refresher as applicable) once per year, plus 2 to 4 practice nights.
There is no cost to join, and all training and required equipment will be supplied by the department.
Applications can be found online at cortesfire.org (Or by copying and pasting the link https://form.jotform.com/240993804584265 ).
Please email chiefcortesfire.org for more information.
Elijah McKenty,
Cortes Island Fire Chief