WILMINGTON — Seventeen new recruits will join the Wilmington Fire Department at the end of the month.
A graduation ceremony will be held Oct. 30 at 2 p.m. for the Recruit Academy 2022. It will take place in council chambers at City Hall, 102 N. 3rd St. The cadets will each be pinned by a loved one and presented a new helmet.
“The 2022 Recruit Academy is an outstanding group of young men and women,” Fire Chief Steve Mason said in a press release. “After graduation, they will bring some much-needed relief for our daily staffing challenges. I am very proud of their progress throughout the academy and look forward to seeing them grow in their careers.”
Over the course of the last six months, the recruits each completed approximately 959 hours of training along with 137 hours of physical training. Participants achieved state certifications for emergency medical technician, firefighter, shipboard firefighting, hazardous materials operation, child passenger safety seat technician and more.
The new recruits will start January 2023 and are slotted to fill the additional positions budgeted for WFD in fiscal year 2023 for the new Station 6 in Riverlights, according to WFD spokesperson Rebekah Thurston.
The additional personnel add to the current staff of 169, totaling 186 firefighters on shift. Thurston confirmed that leaves the department down three positions, but WFD started another hiring process in August for the 2023 academy.
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