Daniel Salvatore, 27, has been waiting three years to join the Buffalo Fire Department.
On Wednesday, his wait was over. Salvatore was one of 57 new recruits who joined the Buffalo Fire Department after months of grueling training that brought them into blistering, hot training sites and kept them up at late-night study groups.
But the hardest part for Salvatore was waiting to enter the academy.
"Of course it's in the back of your head while you're waiting," said Daniel Salvatore, 27, of Clarence, who believes he always had a call to serve, "we didn't know if we would make it or not."
The city administers the firefighters' civil service exam every four years – kicking off a lengthy process for joining the department. The last exam, given in 2014, was the start of a new beginning for these 57 recruits, who were vetted from 2,500 candidates.