Five student firefighters from the University of Massachusetts Amherst Student Force have been promoted to full-time at the Amherst Fire Department, boosting the department back up to full staffing through June. They will assist with staffing during this period of responding to COVID-19.
The five, who begin full-time duties next week, have been part of the student firefighter program based at the North Amherst Fire Station on East Pleasant Street, a collaboration between the university and town that dates back to 1953. The station is adjacent to the UMass Amherst campus.
Maryanne Steele, assistant director of Campus Safety and Fire Prevention for the UMass Amherst Department of Environmental Health and Safety, says, “We have had a long history of UMass students volunteering to serve on the Amherst Fire Department Student Force and now five of those students have been hired as full firefighters to assist with staffing during this period of responding to COVID-19."