Forestdale Fire District

Forestdale Fire District traces its roots to September 30, 1965, when it began as the Hillview 78-West Fire Department, an all-volunteer outfit serving the western Birmingham suburb of Forestdale. Voters approved converting it into an official fire district in 1972, and the district began operating as such on January 1, 1973, hiring its first paid staff that same year with two personnel per shift working 24-hour tours.

The district grew steadily in the decades that followed: paramedic-level EMS services were added in 1976, a second fire station opened on the western side of the district in 1984 with an additional engine and crew, and the department adopted its current name, Forestdale Fire District, in 1986 to better reflect the communities it serves. In 2010 the district began operating its own ambulance transport unit, adding another position per shift, and in 2018 it completed a remodeled Fire Station 1 that now houses administration offices and training facilities alongside the business office.

Today Forestdale Fire District employs twenty-two paid personnel operating out of three stations in the Forestdale area of unincorporated Jefferson County. Five personnel are on duty each day running two ALS fire engines and one ALS ambulance transport unit, and the district carries an Insurance Services Office (ISO) Class 2 rating.

Forestdale Fire District does not run a dedicated careers portal; openings for firefighter/paramedic and other district positions are announced periodically on the district's News page. As of this review the most recent firefighter hiring notice was from January 2023, alongside an ongoing 2025 call for community volunteers to serve on the district's finance committee. Interested applicants should watch the News page or contact the Business Office directly.