Fire Department · Combination
Sitka Fire Department
Sitka, AK · Sitka City and Borough County
9 paid staff · ~85 volunteers
The Sitka Fire Department serves the entire City and Borough of Sitka, a 4,710-square-mile borough in Southeast Alaska. It is a combination department: nine paid staff work alongside roughly 85 volunteers organized into four divisions — fire, EMS, search and rescue, and dive. Paid staff keep the Lake Street station covered 24 hours a day, and volunteer firefighters carry their issued bunker gear in their personal vehicles and respond directly to the scene, which keeps response times short across the borough.
The EMS division handles the majority of the department's calls, about 1,000 per year, led by a full-time EMS Captain who is typically a paramedic and EMT instructor. The fire division's roughly 15 active volunteer firefighters answer about 200 calls a year, covering structural and wildland fire suppression, fire prevention, vehicle extrication, hazardous materials response, and confined space rescue. Sitka Mountain Rescue, the department's all-volunteer SAR division, is accredited by the Mountain Rescue Association and fields about 40 members across a field team and an incident management team, with technical rope rescue and K9 units. The Sitka Dive Team's ACUC-certified public safety divers respond to water emergencies borough-wide with an ROV and side-scan sonar rated to 1,000 feet, and have been deployed from U.S. Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopters.
The fleet includes two Pierce engines, a Pierce Saber quint ladder, three Braun Northwest medic units, and two command vehicles. The department trains regularly with outside agencies including the Alaska Department of Transportation, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Forest Service.
Paid positions — the career staff includes fire engineers, firefighter/EMTs, an EMS Captain, and command staff — are posted through the City and Borough of Sitka's recruitment portal on GovernmentJobs.
The volunteer path is open-door: the department encourages anyone interested in becoming a firefighter to stop by the station and pick up an application. No previous experience is necessary, and training is provided after joining. The dive team sets its own diving prerequisites for new members.
Benefits
City and Borough of Sitka full-time employees are eligible for:
- Medical, dental, and vision coverage (90% employer-paid), with an HSA-eligible plan option
- Life insurance, dependent life insurance, and long-term disability
- Flexible spending accounts for health and dependent care
- Alaska PERS retirement plus mandatory SBS contributions and a 457 deferred compensation plan
- Paid leave plan, 10 paid holidays plus floating holidays, and an employee assistance program
Volunteer firefighters train after joining — no prior experience required — with drills at the station and classes offered around the state by State of Alaska Fire Training Services.
What does it take to join the Sitka Dive Team?
New members must be certified in Basic and Advanced Open Water diving, have logged at least 25 dives (15 in a dry suit), and work as a tender for three months before starting public safety dive training with the team. Most of the team's divers hold PADI Rescue Diver or Dive Master certifications.
When does the Sitka Fire Department train?
The fire division drills the first and second Wednesday of each month, the EMS division the second and fourth Thursday, and Sitka Mountain Rescue's incident management and field teams the second and fourth Monday. Specialized weekend sessions and multi-agency trainings round out the calendar.
What certifications do Sitka's members hold?
Fire division members hold certifications including Firefighter I and II, Rapid Intervention Technician, HazMat Technician, and Fire Instructor I and II. On the EMS side, ALS providers hold EMT II or EMT III certificates, and EMS lieutenants are experienced EMT IIIs.