Denver Fire Department to Not Conduct New Firefighter Training in 2025
For the first time in 16 years, the Denver Fire Department will not be conducting new firefighter training this year due to being fully staffed, confirmed spokesman JD Chism on Monday.
The department made the decision to postpone the start of a new training academy until 2026 as they are currently at 99.4% of their fully authorized strength of 1,114 employees, Chism stated.
This marks the first time since 2009 that the department will go a full year without holding at least one training academy.
The city’s Civil Service Commission announced on Friday that both the emergency medical technician (EMT) training and firefighter training, initially scheduled to start in May and July respectively, have been postponed until 2026, said executive director Gracie Perez.
The commission will continue to advance applicants through the hiring process to ensure a pool of qualified candidates for when the training academies resume next year. Currently, there are 55 potential EMT recruits and 196 potential firefighter recruits in the pipeline, with an additional 600 applicants already screened out, Perez added.
According to Perez, the city had planned to hire eight EMT recruits and 24 firefighter recruits in 2025. The number of recruits in each class and the frequency of classes are subject to change based on the department’s staffing requirements.
Chism mentioned that the Denver Fire Department anticipates only 11 retirements in 2025, which would leave the agency at about 98.4% of its full staffing by the year’s end.
“The decision to pause new firefighter training is not budget-related but solely based on staffing needs,” Chism clarified.
While the fire department is fully staffed, both the Denver Police Department and the Denver Sheriff Department have faced challenges in maintaining full staffing levels in recent years.
Currently, the Denver Police Department is slightly over 90% staffed, with 1,532 officers and cadets out of an authorized strength of 1,639 sworn officers.
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