The department is capped at thirty active firefighters and first responders in good standing, and it recruits continuously: the city's employment page carries the firefighter posting with no closing date, and qualified applicants who arrive when every seat is full are kept on a list for any vacancy in the next twelve months. This page is what the department's own standard operating guidelines and the relief association's by-laws say the job is. The application itself is a city form; it is reproduced on this site and routes to City Hall.
Who can join
Seven requirements, and none of them asks you to already be a firefighter. Certification is something you get after you are taken on, at the department's expense: the 2026 budget carries $7,000 for training fees and $8,000 for safety clothing and equipment.
- Be 18 or older and in good standing in the community.
- Hold a high school diploma or the equivalent.
- Hold a valid Minnesota driver's licence.
- Carry, at a minimum, Minnesota State Firefighter I and First Responder certification, and keep it current.
- Keep a valid CPR card with defibrillator training.
- Show proof of auto insurance.
- Pass a background check.
Nothing in the rules requires you to live inside the city limits. What the job requires in practice is proximity — a pager that goes off at two in the morning is only useful if you can be at the hall in a few minutes — and an employer who will let you leave.
How the application runs
- Pick up an application. At Kenyon City Hall, 709 2nd Street, or fill in the same form on this site. The city's version is Fire_Department_Application.pdf.
- Interview. A committee of three firefighters, two city council members and the city administrator interviews every qualified applicant.
- Nomination. The committee's recommendation goes to the whole fire department, which nominates.
- Council vote. The final appointment is made by the Kenyon City Council, by motion at a public meeting. New members have appeared on the agenda as "Appoint New Fire Department Members" — Tyler Eggert and Shane Dahlgren on June 8, 2021, for instance.
- Six months on probation. Subject to every rule of the department, attending all meetings and practices, responding to calls when available. You must pass a physical during it, and start Basic Firefighter I through the Minnesota technical college system.
- Off probation by motion. The city council has to pass a motion ending the probationary period. It does not happen automatically.
What is expected of a member
| Standing rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| Respond to at least 20 percent of active calls | The standing rule; availability is the whole point of a paid-on-call department. |
| Attend at least 80 percent of meetings | Monthly meetings and practices, with a meal budget of $2,500 a year for practice nights. |
| Two unexcused absences | A third puts a member back on probation and under review. |
| Tell an officer when you cannot come | Sickness, injury or absence. |
| Report impairment | A firefighter who is impaired on a call must report to the ranking officer, who assigns a duty or sends them home. |
Source: Kenyon Volunteer Fire Department and First Responders standard operating guidelines, updated February 2021, in the council packet of November 9, 2021.
The operating rules go well past attendance. A member is responsible for the safe keeping and maintenance of department property; nothing leaves the station outside normal duties without the chief's permission; requests for information about an incident — cause, damage, anything — are referred to the chief rather than answered; and on a suspected arson the officer in charge summons the chief immediately and the scene is not left unguarded. Members are health-screened, and health shots relevant to firefighting and first-responder work are offered by the department.
On the road the guidelines are specific. Apparatus responding to an alarm are not to be driven faster than can be maintained safely, must come to a complete stop at stop signs and dangerous intersections when necessary, and firefighters driving their own cars to the hall obey every Minnesota traffic law. Backing up always takes a member at the rear signalling the driver.
Pay and pension
Kenyon is a paid-on-call department: firefighters are paid for calls, not salaried. The larger benefit is the pension, and it does not work the way most pensions do.
The Kenyon Firemen's Relief Association runs a defined-contribution plan. Each year the state fire aid that passes through the city — $30,252 in the 2026 budget — plus the city's $10,000 donation and the association's own fundraising go into a special fund, administrative costs come off the top, and what is left is divided equally among the members in good standing on December 31. Not by rank, not by calls run: equally. Investment earnings are then credited to each member's account in proportion to its balance. The association held $759,067 in assets at the end of tax year 2024 and reported $2.27 million in gross receipts.
Leaving early does not mean leaving with nothing. Serve more than ten years and you go on deferred status with a vested share:
| Completed years of service | Share of your account you keep |
|---|---|
| 10 years | 60% |
| 11 years | 64% |
| 12 years | 68% |
| 13 years | 72% |
| 14 years | 76% |
| 15 years | 80% |
| 16 years | 84% |
| 17 years | 88% |
| 18 years | 92% |
| 19 years | 96% |
| 20 years | 100% |
Kenyon Firemen's Relief Association by-laws, Article VIII, as presented to the council June 9, 2026. A recent amendment removed the old requirement that a deferred member reach age 50. Deferred balances are credited at 0 percent interest, so the money does not grow after you leave.
Under ten years and a member dismissed for cause forfeits the account entirely. A member permanently disabled to the point that a physician certifies they can no longer do the work is paid their full share within a year, regardless of vesting. A retired member who has taken the pension may stay on the roster in good standing if they tell the chief and still meet the health requirements. Military service does not break continuity, provided active duty on the department resumes within three months of discharge.
The other way to help
Not everyone can carry a pager. The relief association raises the rest of the department's money at a June dance at the fire hall, bingo on the third Thursday of the month, a mailer, and the pancake breakfast at the Muni during Rose Fest, and the Ladies Auxiliary works alongside it. Local organizations can also apply to the department for funding at fire@cityofkenyon.gov.
Sources: City of Kenyon fire department page and 2026 fee schedule; Kenyon V.F.D. 2024 and 2025 response reports and the 2025 township fire contract, council packets of December 3, 2024 and December 2, 2025; fire fund revenue and expense summaries of October 20, 2025; fire department standard operating guidelines of February 2021 and relief association by-laws, council packets of November 9, 2021 and June 9, 2026; 2025 city audit; IRS Form 990 and Minnesota Gambling Control Board filings for the Kenyon Firemen's Relief Association; Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, History of Goodhue County (1909), pp. 205–206; Sanborn Map Company, Kenyon, Minn., May 1933 revised May 1944, Library of Congress; KDHL Radio, June 26, 2017; USDA Rural Development, Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program. Compiled September 14, 2026. This site is independent of the City of Kenyon and of the fire department.