Three Santa Maria firefighters were promoted to engineers in a multi-purpose ceremony Friday afternoon.
The three promoted were Sean Buczynski, Christoper Furtado and Jeremy Mace.
Those three passed a state written test and a number of skill tests, such as a map to test the knowledge of the entire city, how to identify every part of a firefighting pump, and how to work every system on the fire truck.
Two new firefighters - Scott Bramsen and Andrew Garcia - just finished a 10-week training course and received their badges in the same ceremony.
The fire chief, Leonard Champion, says the department does this promotions and recruitment process at least once a year.
"When you have a opening we get hundreds of applicants, a lot of people want to become a firefighter but it is a very difficult profession to get into," Champion said.