Duluth Fire Department Welcomes New Firefighters

All new hires took part in Firefighter I and II basic level of training.

DULUTH, Minn. – The Duluth Fire Department (DFD) is growing after the addition of four new firefighters.

The positions opened up after some firefighters retired or left due to long-term disability.

The new hires will spend about four months at headquarters before working at outside stations like Spirit Valley and University of Minnesota Duluth.

“We have our own hose loads that we pull and our hose load might be different from the department next to us or the department next to them,” said DFD Captain Andy Golz. “So every department kind of has their own kind of intricacies that these new firefighters have to learn in order to be functional members of the department.”

They will then rotate around until they’ve worked at every station.

Their first day on the job was Feb. 26 and they’re now learning the ropes during two weeks of training.

“Our manufacturer that we use of Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), they’re learning the ins and outs of that; what to do in emergencies if their air supply goes bad or they have a malfunction with their SBCA and they’re just kind of getting comfortable with them at this point,” said Golz.

All of the new firefighters have previous firefighting experience.