LANCASTER – The acting chief of the South Glengarry Fire Service says ten recruits are going through training to become future township firefighters.
“We had 17 applicants (in April) and we’re going to move ten applicants forward,” Dave Robertson told Cornwall Newswatch. “Because we’re broken into five response districts for the five stations, we recruit as a whole municipality but we will only place new recruits into stations as openings become available and there are some areas that do not need recruits at this time,” he said.
The applicants were 16 men and one woman and the female candidate is in an area of South Glengarry that doesn’t need a volunteer firefighter right now.
Robertson explained that all the applicants passed the basic testing and will be held on a list and will be pulled from as vacancies arise in the district, including those stations that are full.
The volunteer turnover is around one to four firefighters a year per station for various reasons, Robertson said.
Training classes for the new volunteer firefighters started a couple weeks ago and by the end of this month they will be assigned to stations.
“We were very happy with the quantity and quality of applicants who applied this year and we very excited they passed through our written and physical testing. We have a great group to draw from,” Robertson added.