Track record
13 years of FireDepartment.net
FireDepartment.net ran for 13 years as a directory of U.S. fire departments and a place for departments to recruit volunteers. By the time it closed in 2022, more than 8,000 fire departments had signed up, and the site drew millions of visitors a year for more than a decade.
Statewide recruitment in Nevada
From 2016 to 2022, FireDepartment.net's founder, Lars Estrem, was digital marketing manager at the Nevada Fire Chiefs Association and led its statewide online volunteer recruitment. Over those years, volunteer firefighter applications grew tenfold and the association's website traffic grew twentyfold, through search engine optimization, Google Ad Grants and search campaigns.
In its first year, 2017, the association's online volunteer application received 584 volunteer firefighter applications, more than 45 a month. These counted completed applications, not inquiries or phone calls. The program later grew to more than 100 applications a month. See the state of volunteer firefighter recruitment.
Fire service experience
FireDepartment.net was founded by Lars Estrem, who spent seven years as a wildland firefighter and fire engine operator with the U.S. Forest Service in Northern California before founding the site.
Oregon and Washington
We will publish results from the Oregon and Washington program here as they come in.