Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services recruits halfway through training

Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services' 2023 recruits are halfway through their training.

Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services' newest set of recruits are halfway through their training, preparing for their future careers.

They were out on the training grounds Thursday, learning some essential skills they'll need on the job.

"Right now, they're working on entanglements, because sometimes, unfortunately, they might get stuck in a situation where they're tangled up in wires, so they're learning how to address that problem," said the fire training officer Mark Matheson.

"In addition, sometimes if you get trapped in an upper story you might have to bail out of a window, so they're practicing what the procedures are with that."

The class is made up of nine recruits, some travelling from far away to learn.

"I came up from New Brunswick for the wildfires, working in Peace River, Alta., and that's when I noticed the posting here," said Mitch Cormier, one of the recruits.

"I heard a lot of great things about the department so I decided to apply and luck came my way and I got hired, so I’m glad to be here."

The recruits have only been working together the past five weeks, but say they've already built some incredible bonds with their classmates.

"It's been really cool," said another recruit, Tim Carroll.

"At work and outside of work, we're vibing and our lead instructor tells us every few days that people keep asking how our class is and he says it's a great class."

Lethbridge Fire and Emergency services say they've had to increase their recruiting efforts to help keep up with the demand they're seeing and help fill a void in staffing.

"The recruit program is very unique, since I've been here anyway, that we're running more than one recruit class, two a year usually is what we're hitting now." said Matheson.

"It's almost continuous recruiting and training to keep up with the demands."

Graduation for the recruits is set for later this year officials are already accepting applications for their next intake of recruits with training planned for the spring.