SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — The Seminole County Fire Department is pulling back on recruitment outreach as it waits to see what impacts it could face following the passage of Amendment 3.
The department has canceled recruitment outreach events scheduled at local high schools later this month. Its last scheduled event took place Thursday at Seminole State College.
The department has more than 500 firefighters across more than a dozen stations. Officials say 60-70% of its recruits come from Seminole County.
“We’re a homegrown department. We love to be able to have our community members go through Seminole State College and ultimately get hired on the Seminole County Fire Department,” Matt Kinley, Seminole Fire Chief said.
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The chief said the department is fully staffed for now, with only two positions that were already open before the hiring freeze.
He said the public should not see any impact on emergency response services.
“We’re a people-driven service. The public isn’t gonna see any effect to the emergency response that we provide,” Kinley said. “Anything like that that you would see would be years into the future.”
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The department’s current recruitment class is one of its smallest in years, with only eight students.
Officials also said the fire program at Winter Springs High School will not be affected at this time.
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