Welcome To The Grant County Fire District #8 & Mattawa Ambulance Web Site

In order to join you must:
- Be 16 years of age or over. Members that are still in school must meet academic requirements and have parents approval.
- Have valid ID and Social Security number as you will become district  employees.

If you meet these requirements you must do two things before you will be considered for membership.
- You must attend two training meetings. This is so you can get to know us and we can get to know you. A training meeting schedule can be found at the office in Mattawa.
- You must fill out an application and turn it in. Applications can be pick up at the office or during one of your two required meetings. 

    The next thing that happens is at the regularly scheduled business meetings the members will vote on putting you into probationary membership. The process is during the course of the business meeting the issue of your entry  into the department will be brought up by the chief. At that point you (if you're present) will be asked to stand, you will be introduced and you will be given a chance to say anything you would like. After that you will be asked to go into the bay with the trucks. We the membership will discuss you. At some point a motion will be made to except you, it will be seconded and the members will vote. In most cases this does not take long. 

    Once placed into probationary membership you will be issued a pager and fire gear. You will have to complete a rookie book within your 6 month probation period. The rookie book contains a lot of information including, safety stuff, rules, laws and skills. You will have to learn these things and get them signed off by an officer, but you have six months to do it in. You will also be required to take some classes including first aid, fire fighting fundamentals and infectious disease. Other classes may be required. If the class is not offered during your 6 month rookie period you will have to take it the next time it is offered. All training is free to the members. You as a member must maintain (as all members are expected to do) a minimum training level of 12 hours every 3 months. This would be equal to two, two hour meetings every month, typically there are 8 or 9 meetings a month. There are other training opportunities also, including your mandatory classes. This sounds like a lot, but in 6 months it's easy. The fire fighting fundamentals is usually taught over a week end, and Infectious disease is 2 hours taught on regular meeting as it is an annual requirement.  

    At the end of your 6 month rookie probation, if you have your training up and rookie book done you can be considered by the membership for full membership. This is just like when you were voted into probationary membership. At the next business meeting following your eligibility for full membership, you (if present) will be asked to go into the bay. We will talk about you and in most cases vote you in as a full member. At that point you will be issued a uniform shirt and badge. You will still be expected to keep 12 hours of training in any 3 month period. We have a weekend duty crew that rotates threw the members, most members will be "On Call" one weekend a month.

    As a member (in some cases as a rookie) you will have the opportunity to do extra training to better yourself and your skills. Some of these trainings might be: "Burn to Learn" (at the north bend state fire training facility), a very cool two day class. You may want to become a first responder or emergency medical technician, these classes are long but rewarding. These classes will be free of charge to you, but we may require a written commitment to serve a year on the department after you're certified as a EMT or FR. There are from time to time many other out of department trainings like these. Some have limited space and sometimes other limitations are imposed, and there for there are rules and procedures, which you will learn about.  

    If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at the Mattawa station (station 1) 932-4777. The public is welcome to come in and look around (during business hours) or come to a meeting. We are your fire department, we are here to serve you. We also offer free blood pressure checks. We would really like to encourage you to consider joining our team, many hands make light work. 

 



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