GREAT FALLS — Great Falls Fire Rescue announced promotions of two firefighters this week.
Great Falls Fire Chief Jeremy Jones said in a news release that they are continuing the process of promoting personnel to fill vacancies resulting from promotion and retirements, On January 21, an assessment was conducted and two candidates were selected to fill Battalion Chief vacancies.
The first selection is Jay Jarrett, who was hired in 2000. He earned his Paramedic certificate in 2002 and has served as Captain/Paramedic for the last eight years. Jay and his wife Kristi have raised two sons in Great Falls and are an integral part of our community. In addition to earning his Paramedic certification, Jay is also a graduate of Montana State University.
Darrin Hirose was also selected for promotion to Battalion Chief. Darrin was hired in 2001, progressed through the ranks, and attained the position of Captain in 2011. Darrin is a proud and engaged father for his daughter Kylee and a second generation firefighter for the City of Great Falls, with his Dad, Jim Hirose serving as Fire Chief from 1995-2001.
Their promotions will become effective on February 14th.
(from the GFFR website) Great Falls Fire Rescue consists of 63 uniformed Firefighters, 5 Chief Officers and 3 civilian personnel. All suppression Firefighters are certified EMT's with 21 of them also certified as Paramedics. One uniformed Firefighter is assigned as an Inspector to the Fire Prevention Bureau to assist the Fire Marshal with the Safety Inspection program.
Earlier this month, the department said that it is hiring probationary firefighters in the spring. GFFR Chief Jeremy Jones said the goal is to have them hired by the second week of May. The scheduled hiring in the Spring of 2020 was pushed back to the Fall of 2020 because of the pandemic and was then pushed back to the Spring of 2021.
Firefighters will go through a three-month training academy and then spend nine months as a probationary firefighter before being fully sworn in.
There are nine open positions, and the fire department needs to fill them.
"Our overtime budget is through the roof, but we've got to provide a service to the citizens of this community and make sure that we're a fully staffed, fully functional all-hazards department. To be able to do that, a lot of people that are assigned to different platoons are working every day,” said Jones.
For more information about the job, click here to visit the GFFR website, or call GFFR at 406-791-8967.
