Orange County Gets 33 New Firefighters

Originally posted at 9:45 p.m. May 28, 2014. Edited to add more photos.

Nearly half of 33 firefighters who will join the Orange County Fire Authority tonight have four-year degrees.

The agency welcomed tonight 33 new firefighters who completed 16 weeks of training at the fire academy, according to Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi. Sixteen of the trainees have bachelor's degrees and 16 are married, Concialdi said.

Among the new firefighters, 21 were already certified as paramedics, 27 worked for other departments and 32 graduated from another fire academy, Concialdi said. The average age is 27, he added.

"During the 16- week academy, some weeks were extremely hot and dry and they worked extremely hard in arduous conditions," Concialdi said.

The agency has about 1,000 full-time firefighters assigned to 71 stations countywide.

--City News Service