For Immediate Release: 10/26/2010 8:24 am
Worcester, MA (October 26, 2010) - On Monday, October 25, 2010, thirty-nine recruits began their training for the Worcester Fire Department. This class of recruits is the largest class since the 1970s, when class rosters were in the hundreds.
The Worcester Fire Department continues to experience waves of retirements due to the increased average age of their workforce (now 47) and the reality of those large recruit classes in the 1970s. Funding for a portion of this new class (17 recruits) was made possible thanks to a Federal S.A.F.E.R. grant in the amount of $2.2M. Many thanks are to be given to Congressman James McGovern for his leadership in securing this award.
This new class will begin to lower the WFD's average age and will enable them to bring their total uniformed complement to 408, with the flexibility of returning to the recession level number of 384 if the economy does not rebound over the next three years (the life of the grant).
The recruits will train for 16 weeks and are expected to graduate in February, 2011.
