LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Lubbock Fire Rescue is making it easier for experienced firefighters to get hired.
The department is filling more than 100 new positions over the next six years, following a “meet and confer” agreement approved by the city council.
New schedule, new shift
The agreement includes a move toward new schedules, changing shifts for crews from 24 hours on, 48 off, to 24 on, 72 off.
To accommodate the new hours, LFR is creating an additional shift across its 20 stations.
The department needs 133 people to make that happen.
Derek Delgado said there is a new lateral hiring process as part of the agreement.
“This will come in batches,” Delgado said, meaning 22 new hires per year, over the next six years.
“This is a way that firefighters that are already certified and trained can transfer to the Lubbock Fire Department,” Delgado said.
Training and application process
New hires will still go through a short academy.
“They’ll still go through a short academy. Ultimately, probably about six weeks just for them to understand the way that Lubbock Fire Rescue operates. These are the platforms that we use for reporting, this is…our protocols for medical calls, these are our procedures for large scale incidents. That way they can understand the Lubbock Fire way of doing things,” Delgado said.
“And then after that six weeks we send them out on shift,” Delgado said.
Delgado said this will not affect the hiring process for normal applicants.
LFR applications for its lateral hiring program close on Oct. 2 at 5 p.m.
Applications can be submitted here on Lubbock Fire Rescue’s website.
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