ORANGE BEACH, AL  — nearly 100 people applied to be in the inaugural firefighter resident program for the city of Orange Beach. And of those just nine were selected.

“There were 96 who applied,” Tyler Brown, 21, of Hueytown, said. “I was one of them and I was pretty happy.”

Being in the fire service is something he has always wanted to do and to get training for that job a stone’s throw from the Gulf was an added benefit.

“My whole life pretty much, I couldn’t see myself doing anything else,” he said. “The Gulf Coast played a big part and this has got the beach.”

Orange Beach started the resident program with Ono Island coverage in mind, but negotiations are still ongoing as to what services the city provides for the private enclave which is not in the city limits.

In the meantime, Fire Chief Shane Phillips went ahead with the program by utilizing the Smith house on city property at the recreation center complex.

“That house … was used by lifeguard training and storage,” Phillips said. “Mr. Grimes allowed us to use that because originally those guys were going to go to Ono, but the Ono contract is kind of up in the air right now. Until we get something going out there those guys are going to stay at the Smith house.

“That house was in sad shape and Stony (Burke) and Melvin (Shepard) remodeled that whole house from November until Jan. 1.

And at they will be housed at The Wharf’s old sales office, too, which is currently undergoing renovations performed by firefighters.

Phillips said he first heard about resident firefighter programs at several departments in the Birmingham area and thought it would be a cost-effective way to increase protection while offering people interested in becoming firefighters training.

The residents pay back the city by working shifts with regular crews at station 1 and soon at The Wharf.

“There will be three residents down there and that’s just a roof over their heads,” Phillips said of the Smith house. “They’ll report to duty every third or fourth day at one of the stations. There will be six guys that live (at The Wharf) and they’ll report to duty the same way.

“With the residents, there’ll also be an intern, a resident on duty at (The Wharf) station and at Station 1 everyday. That allows us to pull a man from Station 1 to make a crew just like you would in the rest of the city. That’s good for manpower, operations and ISO.”

The resident firefighters will spend one year here living, training and working as firefighters. The first part of the training ends on Friday.

“This part of their training is just the first phase, they have three more phases,” Phillips said. “So basically they will be in class a couple months every quarter until they leave us.”

When not on duty or in training they residents are pretty much on their own.

“They don’t make any money here,” Phillips said “The way the schedule works it’s conducive for part-time work. Montana Bart, he has three or four part-time jobs already.”

City businesses, Phillips said, have stepped up with jobs for the residents.

“Most of them have financial obligations they have to take care of,” Phillips said. “The Wharf has been very gracious. There are several that are working here on site between Sharky’s and the Ferris Wheel. There’s a couple at Cosmo’s Restaurant, Yogurt Plus.

“The community has stepped up big time. They found out these guys need jobs and they basically told us if they are part of the resident program they are a shoo-in for a job here.”