By Ty Walker The Mountain Times
Benjamin Hill credits a friend for sparking his interest in firefighting. During their snowboarding trips together to Mount Hood, his friend would regale him with stories about his firefighting days in Utah. His friend, now retired, would say how exciting and rewarding the job was.
His friend’s colorful adventures got Hill to think about pursuing a career as a firefighter himself. So on one of his trips to Mount Hood last fall, he made a stop at the Hoodland Fire District station in Welches to learn more about firefighting.
As luck would have it, Hoodland was just a few weeks away from starting a volunteer training academy session. So Hill applied, started the training in October 2024, and graduated this January.
“The timing of it all kind of worked out,” Hill said. “By coincidence, I drove by Hoodland, dropped in and they were about to start an academy.”
Now he is volunteering about 20 hours a week, working alongside full-time career staff firefighters and paramedics. He is also a certified EMT (emergency medical technician), trained to assess and treat patients at the scene of an incident and help transport them to a hospital.
So far, having only been a volunteer for a few months, Hill has not responded to any fires yet. only to medical emergencies. But he has trained on burn to learn exercises at the Hoodland academy.
“I liked the live fire training and working on patient care,” Hill said. “I go on medical calls with paramedics. They give you the opportunity to learn.” He has responded with crews to medical calls at crash sites on Highway 26. “It’s a dangerous road, especially up by Sun Rock and anywhere over the pass when it gets dark and starts raining,” Hill said. “When people are not sober, then it gets a little scary.”
When he’s not volunteering at Hoodland Fire District, he manages time for his paying jobs – driving an ambulance for AMR (American Medical Response) and a bucket truck for a tree trimming service.
Hill, 25, grew up mostly in Oregon City, where he still lives, and graduated in 2019 from Gladstone High School, where he was a three-sport athlete. He played baseball, football and basketball. In his off time, he enjoys outdoor activities, golfing, hiking, swimming, camping, snowboarding, and surfing on the Oregon Coast. He has four sisters, including a fraternal twin who lives in Colorado. Both his parents are school teachers.
Much of his time at the fire station these days is spent cleaning and studying toward being signed off and approved for driving Hoodland Fire rigs.
“They have strict emergency vehicle rules you have to know,” Hill said. “It makes sense because we’re driving around huge rigs with thousands of gallons of water.”
For more information about the Hoodland Fire District Fall Training Academy, visit hoodlandfire.gov. Applications are always accepted, but recruitment ramps up in the summer to get ready for the fall training session.