Thunder Bay Fire Rescue vehicle parking inside a fire hall, undated. Image: Acadia Broadcasting

Thunder Bay Fire Rescue is adding eight new recruits to the team.

The new firefighters are having a graduation ceremony to applaud their intense 15 weeks of training and certification.

Fire Chief, Dave Paxton, said that adding new members is lengthy process, with intensive training that covers a wide variety of skills.

If they make the cut.

“We have a very competitive process,” said Paxton. “There was close to 500 applicants, and this is our second hiring from that group, so this is a big accomplishment for them.”

Thunder Bay Fire Rescue has an average of eight new recruits every year for the past decade. Each firefighter has four shifts per week, but there were still vacancies to fill.

“Our hiring practices are based on retirement and retention, and we can also now reduce overtime hours,” said Paxton.

With the new additions, there are now 202 firefighters, which includes suppression and non-suppression divisions.

Four people are on duty at all times at all eight stations, so new recruits need to show qualities of a team player.

“Fire fighters need to work well with their team, and they need to have compassion,” said Paxton. “As well as commitment to life-long learning and preparation.”

He adds that they need to stay up to date on skills to handle any type of call, such as a structural fire, a water rescue situation, a medical first response, auto accidents and more.

However, they will always have proper supervision and mentorships from experienced firefighters. The new group of individuals come with varied backgrounds of training.

“It’s an exciting moment for us and I know the eight new recruits are anxiously awaiting new week when they report for full active duty.”

They will make it official with a graduation ceremony tonight at 7 p.m. at the Thunder Bay Fire Rescue Training Center.