Meet the volunteer firefighters protecting North Bannock Fire District

POCATELLO – Thirteen firefighters, aware that an emergency call could come at any moment, gathered at the fire station to train Wednesday evening.

These weekly trainings, beginning with equipment checks, ensure they’re prepared when emergencies happen.

The firefighters were from the North Bannock Fire Department, which protects the 80.5 square miles that make up the North Bannock Fire District. A little over 5,820 people live in the district, which surrounds the cities of Pocatello and Chubbuck to the north, east and west, and borders the Fort Hall Fire District.

And they were all volunteers.

“This isn’t just our jobs,” said Kimberly Olsen, a firefighter at the training. “This is the way we want to help people.”

The North Bannock Fire District, which was originally formed by the county commissioners in 1979, contracted with the Pocatello and Chubbuck fire departments for fire services until 2019. At that point, the district formed an independent fire department, made up of volunteer firefighters.

There are about 32 volunteer firefighters in the department, and around eight to 10 of them will typically respond to a call.

The North Bannock Fire Department provides fire services for the rural area surrounding the cities of Pocatello and Chubbuck, including fire prevention, suppression and inspections. Additionally, the department doesn’t have the ability to medically transport patients, but it responds with firefighters who are EMT certified.

Covering a rural area, the primary kinds of calls the district responds to are wildland fires, but it also responds to structure fires. Fire Chief Brian Curtis estimates that his department responds to around 50 to 60 wildland fires and four to five structure fires per year. These structure fires often include sheds and outbuildings, and wildland fires can range from out-of-control wildfires to fires that started as a controlled burn before getting out-of-hand.

“Whether that’s a wildland fire, a structure fire or a wildland fire leading to a structure fire … safety is our No. 1 priority for all of our residents,” said Lt. Sam Ward, who was also at the training.

Olsen said people in her district worry about fires, due to living further away from emergency services than people who live in Pocatello or Chubbuck city limits. Without the North Bannock Fire Department, they wouldn’t have a firefighting force dedicated to responding to their area.

“The community … had a lot of stress about fire. I have family who live in this district who were super grateful when we started here because now we’re helping them,” Olsen said.

Olsen spoke about times when she’s been on calls where they’ve fought wildland fires and stopped the flames just before they reached a home.

“As a firefighter, that’s very stressful,” Olsen said. “It does feel like a lot of pressure as you’re fighting that fire. It (goes from) ‘This is just a lot of land’ to ‘This is someone’s whole house,’ and ‘That’s someone’s life.’”

“Being able to stop it, especially in those ones where we’ve come right up to that house line, it’s a relief for the homeowners, it’s also a relief for us as firefighters, because then we can confidently say we were able to save your house, and I feel like that earns a place in our community,” Olsen said.

Olsen and Ward, both being certified EMTs, and Ward being able to drive the department’s vehicles, could pursue paid firefighting opportunities. Neither do because they care about the community they protect.

“The reason I stayed is the people,” Ward said. “My parents live in the North Bannock Fire District, and I live just outside (it), so the fire district is extremely important to me.”

EastIdahoNews.com comment boards are a place for open, honest, and civil communication between readers regarding the news of the day and issues facing our communities. We encourage commenters to stay on topic, use positive and constructive language, and be empathetic to the feelings of other commenters. THINK BEFORE YOU POST. Click here for more details on our commenting rules.