Fresno Fire Department has hired its first class of Probationary Firefighters since February of 2008.
Fresno Fire conducted live fire training, Friday, June 5th with the probationary firefighters.
The training tower at Station 3 was the site where in addition to having live fire training, rookies were cutting on a roof prop practicing vertical ventilation over a fire.
The class of 13 has passed the halfway point of the Fresno Fire Training Academy and is scheduled to graduate on June 26th.
The hiring of the new class has long been awaited by the City of Fresno as the recession induced budget cuts caused the elimination of crews.
The addition of these new firefighters helps the department considerably with daily staffing, especially with the proposed opening of Truck-9 in this upcoming fiscal year.
In addition to being the first class hired in over seven years, this class is unique as they are the first class that’s been hired as lateral firefighters.
All of these firefighters come from other departments where they worked at least 2 years as professional firefighters, traditionally Fresno Fire did not seek out professional firefighters but instead had an open recruitment accepting applications from all walks of life.
