Tampa Fire Rescue adds new recruits as 'challenging' brush fire season intensifies

TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa Fire Rescue said it is well-staffed now with more than the minimum already employed. 

Now, the latest class of recruits coming out of the fire training academy are set to graduate in a week.

By the numbers:

Tampa Fire Rescue Chief Barbara Tripp said TFR should have a minimum of 720 firefighters, and her department has about 800.

"It's good to always be overstaffed as much as possible, because you just never know what the community can bring in," Tripp said.

The backstory:

TFR held a Family Night, so the newest group of firefighters can show off everything they learned in training.

"They get a chance to show their family exactly what firefighting is all about," Tripp said.

It was also a recruitment event.

What they're saying:

"We want family and friends to pass the word on, because we definitely need more and more firefighters," Tripp said.

Recruitment is a key aspect of a well-run department. In fact, it keeps the firefighters safer by allowing rest time between shifts.

"The more manpower we have, it decreases injuries to our firefighters, and be able [to] assist with fatigue of our firefighters," Tripp said.

Austin Murphy is a training captain with Tampa Fire Rescue.

"If we have a situation where we're not continually recruiting, as people retire, if you don't have enough people coming in to back feed that, you never want to be in a situation that you would potentially have units that would be out of service," Murphy said.

Anyone can become a firefighter. There are physical fitness and educational requirements, but the academy provides training.

"If someone doesn't believe they can be a firefighter, one of the biggest things we look for is integrity and heart, not the biggest person, not the strongest person," Murphy said. "It's, if you have heart, and you have integrity, we can work with you."

Big picture view:

By joining, you are making a difference in the community.

"Everything is dry, and it doesn't take much to spark a fire," Tripp said. "And so, we definitely need those trained firefighters out there to put that fire out."

This is even more true during a tough brush fire season.

"It's been very challenging for Tampa Fire Rescue with a lot [of] the brush fires. We do have the equipment. We have multiple brush trucks that actually can respond to those locations and put the fire out as quickly as possible, as well as different engines," Tripp said. "The good part about it is that a lot of the fires have been kind of contained to certain areas, so we haven't had a large acreage that has been burned."

What you can do:

If you are interested in joining Tampa Fire Rescue, you can learn more on their website.

TFR hosts its Fire Academy through Aparicio-Levy Technical College, but students must first complete an EMT program.