Cobb County Fire & Emergency Services is bringing on an unusually large class of new recruits.
Some 52 new recruits from across the U.S. began 42 weeks of intense training last week, after which they will officially become Cobb County firefighters. The typical class has between 20 and 30 recruits. When these new trainees are finished, the department will have 699 firefighters.
Their recruit class will tie for the largest in department history with the class of 1990 — coincidentally, the same class current Fire Chief Randy Crider graduated from. Crider said the new recruits joining the ranks will allow 21 firefighters to staff the planned Station No. 29 in the Galleria area, which the department hopes to open next fall.