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The City of Dewey’s Assistant Fire Chief Cody Meade recently asked the Dewey City Council to reduce the minimum age requirement for people to join the fire department. He asked the Council to reduce the minimum age to 18.

To join the fire department today, people have to be 21-years old. Meade said limiting the age to 21 limits the application pool. He emphasized that surrounding fire departments have an 18-year-old minimum and that those departments have encouraged Dewey Fire to go for change.

Meade also said that the Dewey Fire Department would have requirements for 18-year-olds before they could join. He said they would have to graduate from high school or have a GED equivalent. They would also have to have Fire Fighter One training.

The Dewey City Council on Monday voted to have the item to reduce the minimum age to join the fire department to 18 in their next agenda. The Council will meet again in April.

(Photo courtesy: Dewey Fire)