The Peoria Fire Department is adding two new faces to its team, while addressing staffing issues and solutions in the process.
Recruitment and retention have been two big priorities for the department. On Friday, PFD held a badge pinning and swearing-in ceremony for two additions to the department who Fire Chief Shawn Sollberger called “rock stars.”
“This is extremely unique for us,” Sollberger said. “We had two firefighters fall on our laps that have already been trained, already educated with other departments.” Sollberger said Jakob Johnson and Zachary Shubert were paramedic and EMT transfers from fire departments in Bloomington and Decatur.
He said their backgrounds and experiences helped fast-track Peoria Fire’s typical 16-week training and put the two men on the streets six weeks earlier than the rest of their class.