Recruitment is underway at the Saint John Fire Department for a number of holiday relief firefighters.

Chief Rob Nichol said the department is allowed to have up to 20, and they are currently hovering around 10.

“We actually experienced a fair amount of retirements and attrition in the department the last few years, so we have several vacancies within our holiday relief firefighter program,” Nichol told our newsroom.

Holiday relief firefighters fill in for permanent members of the department who are on vacation or long-term leave.

Nichol said they can expect to work full-time hours for around 11-and-a-half months of the year.

“There is a potential that there’d be a short layoff at the first of January where there’s less vacation time, although in the last few years, we’ve not had to to do any layoffs,” he added.

The chief said the role of a holiday relief firefighter is almost identical to that of a permanent member of the department, with one exception.

“They wouldn’t be required to do any driving of apparatus or operating the apparatus, but they would be doing the structural firefighting, the medical calls, all the other things that a firefighter would do,” he said.

Nichol said the application process to become a holiday relief firefighter is a “lengthy” one and there are several minimum qualifications an individual must meet.

That includes having their Firefighter Level I and Level II, which the fire chief said can be obtained through a volunteer service or a fire school.

Applicants will also go through a screening process, physical fitness and cognitive testing, and a number of interviews to assess their suitability for the role.

“If they’re successful through that, then there’s an offer made to go out to the training division for about an eight-week period, where we really do specific firefighting skills,” said Nichol.

“They would be expected to successfully complete that and then there would be an offer for employment as a holiday relief firefighter upon successful completion of the training.”

Applications are being accepted until March 20.