Cotton Fire Department is now accepting applications for full time positions.

Application can be found here.....

Qualifications are:
• Must be 20 years of age at time of application
• Must be a U.S. Citizen or Lawfully Authorized Alien Worker
• Must present original birth certificate, or notarized copy
• Must be a High School graduate and present original, or notarized copy, of diploma, transcripts or GED certificate meeting minimum state standards to include scores
• Possess a valid North Carolina driver's license appropriate for operating within 30 days of employment
• Must have been licensed to drive for a minimum of one year, with no loss of license within the past year an acceptable driving record
• Must have no felonies and only limited misdemeanor convictions
• Must be in good physical condition as required by the essential job functions an willing to submit to a pre-employment drug scren and physical examination upon offer of employment
• Must be able to obtain NC EMT certification within one year of employment
• Must be a state certified Firefighter II
• Must be willing to work rotating 24 hour shifts

(03/20/2017)

The annual picture fundraiser for Cotton Fire Department has started. More details on this fundraiser will be posted in the coming days, so check back!

The men and women of Cotton Fire Department have always known about sacrifice. It starts with the over 300 hours of training that it takes to become a certified firefighter. It takes your nights and weekends and your birthdays and ball games. You miss meals and anniversaries, dances and date nights.

Once you start running calls you soon learn that the red lights and sirens can exact a much higher cost. The wails of a mother who arrives at the accident scene and finds her teen never made it to the prom and will never graduate. The look of hope on the old woman’s face as you perform CPR knowing all too well that her love of 50 years is not going to survive. The mind is like a sponge taking it all in; sights and sounds, feeling and fears and from time to time it plays it back for us, whether we want it to or not, usually not.

On October 8th, 2016 Hurricane Mathew arrived bringing with it strong winds and over 15 inches of rain. The members of Cotton Fire Department expected to run a lot of calls that day and indeed they did. They responded to over 70 calls for service ranging from water rescue calls that taxed both personnel and equipment to fire alarms and downed trees. What they didn’t expect was for Rockfish Creek to historically rise over 60 feet and flood the Cotton fire station. The Cotton Fire Department members rallied, moving trucks and as much equipment as possible while the waters quickly surrounded and flooded the station; all this while they continued to answer 911 calls.

To firefighters the station is our home away from home and our brothers and sisters in the fire service our second family. At the height of the storm and its immediate aftermath, the address of Cotton Fire Department became a cul-de-sac normally used for training and within 24 hours a vacant warehouse on Tom Starling was made available to us. The valiant efforts displayed by the members of Cotton Fire Department that day proved that “The Land of Cotton” is more than a building, it is its members. The walls may house them but it’s the spirit of its members that define it. We thank those brave men and women who held down the fort even as the fort was going underwater and to those who would not call themselves hero’s we say, “Thank You!”