Asian Americans Urged to Seek Fire Jobs

The Los Angeles County Fire Department will hold seminars in April in an effort to boost the number of Asian Americans applying to the department, which is hiring for the first time in seven years.

Currently, only 54 out of 2,400 firefighters employed by the county Fire Department are of Asian ancestry, a figure that fire officials would like to see increase.

An informational seminar for prospective applicants is scheduled April 4 at the San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center in Pacoima.

“We want the department to reflect the community it serves. . . . It’s really only fair,” said Deputy Fire Chief Darrell Higuchi, the department’s highest-ranking Asian firefighter.

Fire officials have taken several steps to spread the word within the Asian American community that the department is hiring, said Kerry Yim, a firefighter specialist who has been working on the recruitment effort. Those include contacting Asian-language newspapers and sports groups and scheduling seminars at Asian churches and community centers.

At the seminars, to be held in Pacoima, Gardena and Garden Grove in Orange County, people may obtain applications and literature about the Fire Department and talk to firefighters about how to prepare for the department’s physical and written tests and background checks, said Alan Matsumoto, a firefighter-paramedic.

The April 4 seminar in Pacoima will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the community center, 12953 Branford St.

The department is expecting 30,000 people to apply for about 100 jobs. About 200 to 300 applicants will probably be hired and put through training, Yim said.

Applications will be accepted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 10 to 12 at six locations, including Whiteman Airpark in Pacoima. Similar efforts are being made to attract female, Latino and African American applicants.

For more information, call the department’s public information line at (213) 881-2411.