‘Several’ apply to be volunteer firefighters

While he wouldn’t reveal exactly how many individuals are vying for three positions with the local volunteer firefighting brigade, interim human resources manager Brian Hagarty said the town is “satisfied” with the number of applications received.
“We’re up to several,” Hagarty said Tuesday morning. “We now have enough applications to make a selection from.”
A week ago, Hagarty told the Times the town had received “not an overabundance, but a few” applications.
More hopefuls turned in their résumés prior to Friday afternoon’s deadline, he said.
Next week, Hagarty, Fire Chief Steve Richardson, and George Bell, the town’s community services manager, will meet to short-list applicants for interviews.
“We’ll collectively open the file and count the number of applications at that time,” Hagarty said, adding that “more people have applied than will be interviewed.”
The process of short-listing applicants, conducting interviews, and hiring the new employees will take about a week, noted Hagarty, adding the successful applicants will begin training immediately.
As the human resources manager, Hagarty said he wouldn’t reveal how many people had applied for any job opening and the spots on the volunteer firefighting brigade are no exception.
“I wouldn’t divulge that to a co-worker even because it is a sensitive issue as to how many people have applied, or who has applied,” Hagarty said. “We take the application process fairly sensitively.”
After deciding not to fill a full-time firefighting position left vacant by a retirement in March, council directed Chief Richardson to bolster the local volunteer brigade.
The fire department currently has a complement of 20 volunteer firefighters, but that number soon will become 23.
In early July, Chief Richardson told the Times that all applicants for the openings must undergo a thorough process, including an interview, a written aptitude test, a physical agility test, and a police background check.
He added volunteers who make it through the interview and testing also can expect between 100 and 120 hours of training ahead of them before they even get their pagers.