Ottawa fire department could look toward high schools for recruitment and retention

Ottawa Fire Chief Brian Bressner says one of the biggest challenges the department is facing is keeping staff. He says firefighters will start in Ottawa but then move to the Chicago suburbs for more opportunities. To try and hire more people at the department, people entering will only need to be trained at the EMT basic level rather than be a full paramedic. But Bressner says it also includes getting students interested in the profession.

Deputy Fire Chief Mike Mills says a program for students could start in the schools.

Bressner also says the department is hiring six new firefighters. Although he says it would be good for the department to have a total of 27 personnel hired at the station all the time.