More than 80 recruits have completed a Marin County Fire Department program that trains local residents for wildfire and emergency careers, a pipeline that takes on fresh urgency as fire conditions intensify across Southern Marin.
FIRE Foundry, a workforce development program launched in 2022, takes in about 14 people each year for a paid, full-time fuels crew. Crew members spend a year clearing vegetation, training alongside fire professionals, and earning up to 30 college credits at College of Marin, according to the program's official county page.
The milestone was reported in a Fire Safe Marin profile published Saturday, July 11. Additional participants have joined through evening education and advanced internship tracks beyond the fuels crew.
"We're helping people find where they fit," said Mimi Choudhury, the program's coordinator, who joined during its first year. "Not everyone is going to carry a chainsaw up a hillside, but they may be an incredible dispatcher, prevention specialist, or emergency manager. The fire service needs all of those roles."
Local fire risk in focus
The program's work sits against a backdrop of growing wildfire exposure in Southern Marin. PG&E cut power to more than 2,000 meters in the Mill Valley area on Wednesday, July 15, after wind gusts hit 26 mph on Mount Tamalpais, according to the Marin Independent Journal. A resource site at the Mill Valley Community Center parking lot offered wireless access, phone charging, and bottled water during the shutoff.
FIRE Foundry trains the kind of workers that Southern Marin fire agencies need as events like Wednesday's shutoff become more frequent: fuels crew members, dispatchers, prevention specialists, and emergency managers.
Three tracks for different starting points
The program offers three tracks, according to the county's careers page:
- Fuels Crew Student Intern: Paid, full-time (40 hours per week), with housing access and tuition covered at College of Marin.
- Education Intern: Unpaid, part-time (10 hours per week, evenings), with tuition covered.
- Advanced Internship: Paid, semester-long placements in areas like emergency management, fire prevention, and environmental monitoring.
Participants come from retail, conservation corps, community college, and outdoor education backgrounds. Many are the first in their families to explore fire service careers, according to Fire Safe Marin. Training includes earning a Wildland Firefighter Red Card, rope and water rescue, career exploration events, and help with résumés and mock interviews.
Where graduates end up
Graduates have moved into seasonal and full-time fire positions, fire academies, paramedic programs, and emergency management careers, according to Fire Safe Marin. Some recruits who were once hesitant to speak before a group have gone on to present at the California Wildfire Conference. Others who did not initially see college as an option have completed medical courses and pursued higher education for the first time.
How to apply
Applications are accepted through the County of Marin Careers website. The program office is at 1600 Los Gamos Drive, Suite 300, San Rafael, and can be reached at 415-473-6717. Partners include College of Marin, Conservation Corps North Bay, Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority, UC Berkeley, and NorCal Women in the Fire Service.
