St. Paul Fire Department sees big drop in recruiting numbers
ST. PAUL, Minn. – They are the ones we call for help. But now, it's St. Paul firefighters who need help.
It's a job of service, adventure, and heroism. There is a mighty class of recruits for the St. Paul Fire Department, but it's a smaller class than it should be.
"The less [recruits] we have, the more of a chance this impacts our staffing in the future, and impacts our ability to respond to the emergency needs of our community, which just continue to grow," said SPFD Deputy Fire Chief Roy Mokosso.
In 2005, SPFD had about 4,000 applicants. In 2018, during the last hiring round, it was down to 1,000. And during the current hiring round, they are on track for around 400 applications.
Mokosso says numbers have dipped since the health care crisis of COVID and the civil unrest, but it's a job he believes is worth it.
So do recruits Adelaide Rose and Brian Tremain. Rose has a degree in social work, but wanted a more physical job in the service field.
"I think it's very applicable learning, all of that has given me a better understanding of mental health and how to help those having a mental health crisis," Rose said.
Tremain has a degree in management.
"There's a large psychological component to it where most of the time they just kind of need a conversation," Tremain said. "You just get to talk with people and empathize with them."
"There's a lot of pride, tradition around doing this work," Mokosso said. "I never thought we would get to the day where we had very few applicants."
And so his hope now is that others will come to the rescue. The department is actively hiring through the end of the month. Applicants must also get EMT training.