The Truman Fire Department recently established “Post 1905” for area youth ages 14-21 interested in learning what it means to be a volunteer firefighter.

The program is sponsored by the Boy Scots of America in collaboration with the Truman Fire Department.

Advisers are several Truman Fire Department members: Matt Lange, Josh Tonkin, Cody Tonkin and Kaleana Wiens. Lange, who has been with the department since 2016, shared why they wanted to start the post.

“We kind of looked at it a few ways,” he said. “One of the other advisers thought it would be something for youth in the area to do, and we looked at it as an opportunity for kids to see what we do as volunteers at the fire department. It’s also a good recruitment opportunity.”

The post is intended to include youth from Fairmont, Granada, Madelia, Northrop, Sherburn, St. James, Welcome and Truman. Lange said people need to be 18 to take the firefighter exam and training, so it is good to get them interested at a younger age.

Lange said the group went to schools in the area to give out a survey to see how much interest there was in the program. More than 30 teens responded positively.

“These kids are our future and we hope it gets them excited about helping the community,” Lange said.

He went on to say that being a firefighter is not all about fighting fires and rescuing cats from trees. It’s also about helping the community in a bigger way.

The plan is to have monthly meetings, but there also will be other opportunities and activities for youth, such as taking part in the extensive drill the Truman Fire Department does every summer.

“The end goal is to have the kids run this program and elect their own officers and have their own group meetings,” Lange said. “We also hope they’ll do other fun activities together to build that brotherhood.”

Lange noted that Post 1905 is the only fire explorer program in the area.

“It’s a great educational, hands-on experience for the kids,” he said.

Lange said that if someone missed the first meeting (held Thursday night) but still wants to join they can contact him at (507) 217-3956. There’s a simple application process and a small fee.

“We got a grant from Valero to help with some costs so there’s funding available if some people can’t afford to pay the application fee we’ll get it taken care of,” he noted.

Lange said the post number is chosen by the individual chapter. They went with “1905” because that is the year that Truman’s fire department was established.

“It’s really cool beginning something new with that number,” Lange said.