FALMOUTH – Despite some Cape Cod towns recently welcoming new firefighters to their fire departments, many departments are seeing staffing shortages.
Firefighting is a job that requires the passing of a civil service exam offered by the state.
After these exams are passed, fire departments get a list of candidates that they can hire from, which enables them to take on new personnel.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, civil service exams were delayed, meaning that the Falmouth Fire Department was stuck with several vacancies.
“Because of the pandemic, the testing process that is normally done every two years was significantly delayed for well over a year,” explained Falmouth Fire Chief Timothy Smith in a recent forum with Falmouth Community TV.
New positions have been approved in their budget that had to be filled, and several older members of staff have recently retired.
Any new personnel for the department must go through the State Fire Academy for basic firefighting training.
Six candidates recently graduated from the program, meaning the department will now be able to fill some of their vacancies.
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