POUGHKEEPSIE – City of Poughkeepsie Mayor Marc Nelson welcomed five new firefighters to the city’s fire department on Monday. Nelson joined Fire Chief Joe Franco and Deputy Chief Vincent Parise at the Public Safety Building on Main Street, home to Engine 2 and Tower Ladder 2, to wish the new men well as they gathered gear to attend the Westchester County Career Fire fighter Academy on Tuesday, March 21, 2023.
The men will attend the academy for 19 weeks for basic firefighter training to provide the firefighters with the essential knowledge and basic skills necessary to perform their job safely, effectively, efficiently, and as part of a firefighting team. According to academy officials, the academy is an intensive training program that provides instruction in a classroom setting and practical skills training. This training prepares the firefighter to save the life of a fire victim, a fellow firefighter, or themselves.
Chief Franco is pleased to have the new hires. “We are in the midst of having several veteran, longtime firefighters preparing to retire. The loss of institutional knowledge and manpower will be noticeable but, with the assistance of Mayor Nelson, we will have these five guys ready to go by the middle of August.”
Upon completion of the academy, the five men will return to Poughkeepsie where they will be assigned to a day shift for two weeks to learn the department-specific techniques before they are assigned to a specific group (there are four in the department) where they will get to know the men they will be spending 24-hour shifts with, answering some of the more than 5,000 calls that the department responds to annually.
IAFF Local 596 President Nick Bucher called the new hires “A step in the right direction,” adding “Chief Franco has been diligently working to get us to safe staffing levels and these five guys will at least keep us at our current levels after several senior members retire in the next few months.”
The new hires, known as “Probies” were gathering their gear with Lieutenant James McPadden’s assistance before beginning the academy on Tuesday.
