FALL CITY – The hours are lousy, it is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world and the pay is minimal.

Despite the specifics of the job description, King County Fire Protection District No. 27 in Fall City believes there are those willing to take on the task of being a volunteer firefighter.

The Fall City fire department, like many small-town departments, has a full-time firefighter staff but relies on its volunteers to fill in the gaps. Fall City has nine full-time firefighters who are backed up by 14 volunteers, a number fire chief Chris Connor said he would like to bump up to between 16-20. Most volunteers serve on the department’s E-shifts, which last from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and are staffed with two volunteers and two full-time firefighters. Volunteers typically do three or four E-shifts a month.

To become a volunteer in the Fall City department, a person must be at least 18, be a high-school graduate and reside within the fire district’s boundaries. They need to have a clean driving record and pass both written and a physical tests. They also need to attend a recruit school put on by the Fall City fire department that lasts three months.

While the term “volunteer” can denote a more relaxed attitude toward commitment and attendance, that is not so with volunteer firefighters. When a shift is not taken, the department is not fully staffed and the community, in essence, is in danger.

“The time commitment is demanding,” said Lt. Pat LeDoux of the Fall City fire department.

Balancing that commitment with family and job obligations is a lot for volunteers to take on, but many willingly do. Will Dunne, who was recently brought on as a volunteer, balances his shifts with time spent between his family and his job as a project manager for a flooring contractor. The commitment can be grueling (in addition to the time spent on regular shifts and weekly drills, the department averages 700 calls a year so there is not a lot of sitting around), but Dunne said the esprit de corps of the department and the work he does make his sacrifice worthwhile.

“The camaraderie is good and the guys are great,” said Dunne. “It’s a change from the daily grind. You get up here and you do something completely different than what you do 9-5.”

Naim Mayer, another recent addition to the Fall City department, came on board after he moved to Washington from California. He had gone through training in California to be a firefighter, but moved to Washington to be closer to family. He started out volunteering for another department in the state but it wasn’t the hands-on experience he’d hoped for.

“It was more administrative work,” he said.

After visiting the Snoqualmie Valley for work, Mayer decided to move to Fall City and signed on to be a volunteer. He ended up having to repeat a lot of the training he had in California, but he doesn’t mind the work and is thinking seriously about trying to become a full-time firefighter.

Being a volunteer is the gateway to becoming a full-time firefighter and many volunteers use their free time on shift to train and prepare for tests that will be required for paid fire-fighting positions. In order to be a full-time firefighter in Fall City, an applicant must be at least 21 and have transferred from another department. If they are a new firefighter, the applicant must have a year of volunteer experience, be EMT (emergency medical technician) certified and have graduated from the Washington State Patrol Fire Training Academy in North Bend.

There are those, however, who have volunteered just for the love of the fire department’s camaraderie and community service. Kevin Hauglie, who once served as a commissioner for the fire district and recruited Dunne to sign up for the department, has been a volunteer firefighter in Fall City for the past 27 years. As a volunteer, Hauglie has built up nearly three decades worth of friends and learned the skills that helped him deliver his daughter Erica in 1981.

“It’s been great,” he said. “What’s wrong with big red trucks and great guys?”

* For information about becoming a volunteer firefighter in Fall City, call the station at (425) 222-5841 or pick up an application at the station at 4301 334th Pl. S.E., Fall City.

Editor Ben Cape can be reached at (425) 888-2311 or by e-mail at ben.cape@valleyrecord.com.