Letter: Fire Fighter Age Change Is a Good Idea

Letter: Fire fighter age change is a good idea

We commend Chief Charles D. Yarbrough for recommending that the City of Columbus Fire Department lower its applicant age requirement from 21 to 18. Mayor Stephen Jones is also on board and supports his initiative. Just for the record, this is ongoing and being implemented in neighboring cities all around us with an outstanding track record. The City of Starkville, where Yarbrough formerly served as fire chief, also lowered its hiring age to 18 f…

Columbus Fire and Rescue's new chief look to lower minimum age for future applicants

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – It’s a challenge for fire departments statewide to find people who want to take on the job of firefighting. Columbus Fire and Rescue’s new chief, Charles Yarbrough, thinks he may have one tactic that can help, and that is to lower the minimum age for the job. In Columbus, applicants currently have to be 21-years-old. Yarbrough would like to drop that to 18. It gives the city a wider pool to draw from, and with the state …