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Scranton’s First New Firefighters Since 2008

SCRANTON — The city of Scranton has hired up to 20 new firefighters. The city was able to hire those firefighters through a federal grant called a SAFER g...

SCRANTON -- The city of Scranton has hired up to 20 new firefighters.

The city was able to hire those firefighters through a federal grant called a SAFER grant that Scranton has relied on before.

Fifteen of them were sworn in Thursday morning and will soon head to the state firefighters academy.

When all 20 are expected on the job in June, it will mean some fire stations will be open more often.

15 new Scranton Fire Department helmets were laid out along with a list of ground rules these new hires will have to follow when they head to the state firefighting academy.

"It's a dream I've always had, the next 14 weeks. So, we're all looking forward to it," said Martin Fallon.

The 15 who were sworn in this week round out a class of 20; the first new hires Scranton's had in eight years and the largest class since 2003.

Among them, only the second woman in the department's history and the son of the last Scranton firefighter to be killed in the line of duty.

"This gets us back to 135 and that makes us third or fourth largest in the state, even counting Philly and Pittsburgh," said Scranton Fire Chief Pat Desarno.

The chief says the new hires are possible through a $1.7 million federal grant that will expire in 2018.

"A lot of the companies will now have an extra man. They'll have a lot more manpower, which is good for protection for the city and the safety of our men. That's a big concern of ours. We want to make our guys as safe as we can," Chief Desarno said.

The new hires will solve a lingering problem for the Scranton Fire Department and a north Scranton neighborhood. Manpower issues mean Truck 4 is "browned out" or closed 80 percent of the time.

The new hires mean this will run almost every day of the week.

"I know they're there only once or twice a month," said Tom McIlwee.

He runs his carpeting business just down the street from that station. While the hires are expected to save the city a few hundred thousand dollars in overtime, residents like McIlwee are most relieved that each of the city's stations will be open.

"It took a while to get here. I mean, if there was a fire down the street, the closest one, I think, is up in north Scranton. This is right up the street."

The grant used to hire the new firefighters expires in two years, but the chief says he's confident they'll be able to retain the new hires through attrition or creative financing.

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