The Spokane Valley Fire Department (SVFD) officially hired 16 new firefighters that will begin attending the Fire Academy Wednesday.
The recruits will endure an 18-week training course on top of exams on skills they have learned.
“This new recruit academy will help SVFD move closer to being fully staffed and able to meet the increasing demands for our services. With emergency incidents reaching over 23,000 in 2022 and our fire district population growing by 9%, these new Firefighters are crucial to maintaining our high quality of service for our citizens," SVFD Chief Frank Soto Jr. said. The training called "Crawl, Walk, Run" is split into three stages that will help equip the recruits for their careers as firefighters.
“We teach them from day one, how to problem solve. That is what we do. We show up and solve problems. In high-stress moments you fall back on your training, and we want our people ready for that, and to expect that," SVFD Captain Shawn Pichette said