Kootenai County Fire & Rescue’s “Reserve Firefighters” are trained to a professional level that is equivalent to our career staff.  We train our firefighters equally because when it is time to make entry into a burning structure or attack a vehicle fire everyone will be depended on to do their part on scene.  Our Reserves may work side-by-side with their career counterparts or they may be asked “man” one of our unstaffed stations, responding to incidents as the first crew on-scene.  Learning the basic skills of firefighting is not an easy task.  There are hundreds of hours of classroom and hands on training required to be a part of our organization as a firefighter.

We require that all our reserve firefighters become International Fire Service Accreditation College (IFSAC) certified. This certification is nationally recognized to meet the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1001 standard. In addition to the IFSAC certification, there are other curriculums that are mandated by either federal requirements or District policy that our Reserves must complete prior to responding as a member of our organization.  Some reserves may be in training up to 9 months before climbing aboard one of our apparatus to respond.  If a Reserve chooses to they may wish to continue their education and become a Firefighter/EMT, Driver/Operator, and finally an Officer. All KCFR Reserves are required to meet minimum monthly requirements to stay in good standing with our Fire District.