Firefighter Jobs In Buffalo Grow Thanks To Hiring Spree

The Buffalo Fire Department implementing a new hiring spree to ramp up interest in firefighter jobs. A big boost in the amount of qualified firefighters is needed across the country as many departments struggle to maintain a full staff.

The hiring spree is loaded with candidates who previously took the firefighter exam in 2013 and have been kept on a waiting list of sorts for the last two years.

“We’re going to be in a hiring mode for the next couple of years,” said Mayor Byron W. Brown.

Hiring mode, indeed. The Buffalo News reports that 125 new firefighter recruits are said to be hired and added to one of the Buffalo Fire Departments two training sessions by next month.

Two training sessions are being held in the coming months to accommodate the growing number of new firefighters. Recruits will have the opportunity to select a 12 week Fire Training Academy class that will meet for 10 hours a day, four days a week. Each class set alternates with the other to constantly keep recruits learning and training.

This hiring surge definitely seems to come at the right time for the Buffalo Fire Department as there are reportedly 592 firefighter positions open and 113 officer voids in need to filling.

“We want to infuse some young blood into the department. We know approximately a third of the department is eligible for retirement, but we don’t know how many will take advantage of the opportunity to retire in June,” Fire Commissioner Garnell W. Whitfield Jr. said.

Other states are reporting a need for firefighters, so go ahead and contact your local fire department’s to see if there are similar plans to hire in large quantities.