Are you “reasonably fit,” have some agility and can handle a 25-foot extension ladder?

Can you drag around a big hose filled with water?

Do you like cool hats?

Whidbey Island Fire District 3 is looking for you.

The district is recruiting for the next volunteer firefighter training academy, set to begin in January, Christina Parker, recruitment and retention officer, said Monday.

“It’s worth our while to send two or three recruits through each year, but if we can get a dozen, we’re thrilled,” she said.

Almost entirely a volunteer force, District 3 operates six fire stations and serves about 16,000 residents on South Whidbey.

There are usually between 70 and 85 volunteers, who receive only stipends for responses and training.

Parker said the next volunteer training academy begins the first week in January and will run through the first week of May. Sessions will be from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Day Road Fire Station in Greenbank.

She said recruits from the Central Whidbey fire district and the two Oak Harbor districts also will participate, and instructors will come from several fire districts in the area.

Training will include everything needed for state volunteer certification, including live-burn practice, Parker said.

Volunteers, men and women, must be high-school age or older, be “reasonably fit” and be able to complete an agility test.

“It’s a good test, but not unwieldly,” Parker said. “More people can pass than you might think. You just mostly need to be able to handle the equipment.”

Applicants also must be able to work well with the public, and be able to pass a background check, she said.

There’s a special program for high school students, but they will attend the same academy sessions as the other volunteers, Parker said.

The difference is the degree of responsibility assigned to students on the job, “and they wear different-color hats,” she said.

A separate emergency medical service training academy is also available for volunteers interested in that aspect of the district’s service, Parker said.

Those sessions also begin in January and run Monday and Wednesday nights and every other Saturday into April, she said.

But the district’s greater need is for firefighters, she said, adding, “We’re actively recruiting to get more people into the fire service.”

To that end, the district will host it’s annual informational pancake breakfast from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Freeland Fire Station, 5535 Cameron Road.

Staff members will be on hand to answer questions about the volunteer program, Parker said.

Volunteers must live south of Mutiny Bay Road, and those who complete the training will be assigned to the nearest station if possible, she said.

Parker said the oldest District 3 volunteer completed training at age 64, “and he stayed 10 years. He was a fabulous volunteer.”

“There’s just an awful lot of folks in the community who have never thought about it, who would make great volunteers,” said Parker, who has been a volunteer firefighter for nearly 13 years.

“I never in a million years imagined myself being a firefighter,” she said, “but it’s been a really great experience.”

For information about the program, call 321-1533 or visit the district’s Web site at www.icfd3.org.

Roy Jacobson can be reached at 221-5300 or rjacobson@southwhidbeyrecord.com.