Firefighter hopefuls interviewing for Cal Fire
More than 400 people are interviewing with Fresno County Cal Fire this week for an entry level position. Captain Ryan Michaels said some applicants are even driving from several hours away.
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Hundreds of firefighter hopefuls are in the process of interviewing for Cal Fire positions this week.
Thousands of acres of wild land, destroyed by blistering flames. The summer of 2014 was a fire season that felt endlessly propelled by a record drought. The destruction is one of the reasons why James Horg wants to join the Cal Fire team.
"It's a lot more intense than a house fire, structure fire and so that seems like it'd be pretty exciting to get to be part of that and work with that and maybe save some people's homes," said Horg.
He is one of more than 400 people interviewing with Fresno County Cal Fire this week for an entry level position. Captain Ryan Michaels said some applicants are even driving from several hours away.
"They're limited positions the amount of candidates that are out there are always far exceeding," said Captain Ryan Michaels.
The state agency is preparing for a potentially wretched summer like recent years because of the record drought. A tough job that's not right for everyone.
"It's physically challenging, you're constantly learning, it's a very dynamic environment and it's always changing," said Cal Fire Engineer Chris Edwards.
Fresno County Cal Fire only plans on hiring 100 firefighters this year but they worry they'll need them much earlier than usual if fire season starts up early. Last year fire crews were called out to a 100 acre fire in February, even though Cal Fire generally declares the start of the fire season in mid-April.
