Motorists driving by Langford Fire Station No. 1 on Veteran’s Memorial Parkway won’t see the electronic sign board asking for volunteers this week.
That’s because the department now has a full slate of new recruits lined up to fill their openings.
According to chief training officer Scott Davidson, the department opens up its volunteer firefighter application procedure for the first two weeks of every year. Once the intake is completed, successful applicants go through a number of tests as they vie for the available positions.
This year 16 applicants made it through the preliminary screening procedure. They begin testing this week in competition for five available spots.
“No one retired from Station Two this year,” Davidson says, “so that’s why there are only five spots available. We normally recruit about eight per year.”
The testing involves not only physical aptitude training, he says, but co-operation and affinity testing. The goal is to make sure new recruits will fit in with the rest of the team.
It’s an exhaustive process, so those selected to fill the positions will likely receive their beepers at the start of summer.