Woodland Engine Co. 4 emblem Woodland Engine Co. 4
Est. 1912 · RVCFD
Woodland members working a nighttime fire

Rockville Centre needs you

Join
Woodland.

No experience required. Training is free, gear is provided, and the first step is nothing more than a conversation with a member.

Or stop by on a Sunday morning — we drill at 20 Driscoll Ave.

Apply at
18 — you can start the process at 17½
Where you live
Rockville Centre or a neighboring town
Experience
None. We train you from zero.
Gear & training
Provided free

Why members stay

The more you put in,
the more you get back.

Give your time, and the company invests right back in you.

Your future

  • Length of Service pension (LOSAP)
  • Scholarships & tuition assistance
  • Free training & career development

Health & wellness

  • Free annual physical & vaccinations
  • Health, dental & eyeglass reimbursement
  • Life insurance

Everyday perks

  • Property-tax benefits
  • Discounted Nassau County Leisure Pass

More than perks

  • A share in the only member-owned firehouse in Rockville Centre
  • Lifelong friendships and a network across every trade
  • The pride of serving your own neighbors
A Woodland member in RVCFD turnout gear at a drill

We’ll train you

Come as you are.
We’ll teach you the rest.

No experience required. Training is free — in-house and through the Nassau County Fire Service Academy — and it starts the week you’re accepted.

Here’s the part people don’t expect: you don’t spend a year on the sidelines. Probationary members respond to alarms and ride the apparatus. You learn the job by doing it, alongside members who’ve been doing it for years.

Your first year

Provisional, then probationary.

New members come up through two stages. Both are structured, both are supported, and in both of them you’re a real part of the company.

Stage one

Provisional

Your first few months. You attend the required Phase training sessions — held the first Sunday of each month — and complete the Phase tests. Passing them moves you to probationary status.

Stage two

Probationary

The probationary period runs one year in total. You’re responding to alarms and riding the apparatus while you keep training, and you’ll complete fire school before you’re released from probation.

Then

Full member

Fire school complete, probation behind you, and a permanent place in a company that’s been answering Rockville Centre’s calls since 1912.

How it works

It starts with
a conversation.

Nobody joins Woodland off a form. The process below is real, but it isn’t a gauntlet — most of it is us and you getting to know each other, and you can stop at any point.

  1. Talk to a memberTell us you’re interested — online, or in person on a Sunday morning. This is where most people start, and it costs you nothing.
  2. Get an applicationIf it still sounds like you, we’ll hand you one.
  3. PhysicalA medical check to make sure the work is safe for you.
  4. InterviewA conversation with members about why you want in and what you’re looking for.
  5. Company voteWoodland’s members vote you in. We’re member-owned — this is what that means in practice.
  6. Department approvalThe Rockville Centre Fire Department signs off.
  7. Start trainingYou’re in. Provisional status begins, and so does the training above.
Woodland apparatus operating at a nighttime vehicle fire
Woodland members flowing water during a daytime drill

What it asks of you

Real work,
on a real schedule.

We’d rather you know exactly what this looks like before you start than find out three months in. It’s a genuine commitment — and it’s one that Rockville Centre volunteers have fit around jobs, school, and families for over a century.

Drills
Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings

Where you learn the job and keep sharp.

Company meeting
Second Tuesday evening of the month

Members run this company. This is where that happens.

Calls
A 25% minimum call percentage

Respond to at least one call in four. Nobody expects you at all of them.

Where you live
Rockville Centre or a neighboring town

Close enough to get to the firehouse when the alarm sounds.

Think it might
be for you?

The easiest first step

Stop by any Sunday morning.

We drill Sunday mornings at 20 Driscoll Ave. Come see the firehouse, meet the members, and ask the questions this page didn’t answer.

Or start online

Tell us you’re interested.

Send us your name and what you’d like to know. A Woodland member — a person, not an auto-reply — will get back to you.