LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A local fire department has more hands to help protect people in Bullitt County.
Shepherdsville Fire Department received $3.7 million in federal funding in March to allow the department to hire 12 new firefighters at no cost to the department for the next three years.
On Saturday, a house on Clovis Court in the Cedar Ridge Estates was heavily damaged after a fire started in a garage. No one was injured in the fire that four departments, including Shepherdsville Fire Department, responded to.
A home on Clovis Court was heavily damaged by a fire.
"We help out every district just as much as they help us," said Justin Newton, Shepherdsville Fire Department assistant chief.
On Monday, a dozen new recruits started at the department, none of whom had firefighting experience prior to training. The grant being used to increase pay for new firefighters also keeps salaries competitive.
"Now the hiring pool for certified firefighters is becoming smaller because there is more paid departments throughout the state," Newton said.
Starting pay for the fulltime recruits is just over $60,000 and training takes about seven months. The training starts with classroom work.
"Being a firefighter seems to be very a part of your identity and your everyday life and that is something that is really appealing to me," said Justin Goodin, a recruit at Shepherdsville Fire Department. "I am excited about it. Honestly it makes me look more forward to the job and just seeing what all it takes and what goes into it makes you appreciate it all that much more."
Recruits are trained at Shepherdsville Fire Department on July 10, 2023.
Before the grant, the department had only 12 firefighters responding, which doesn't meet the National Fire Protection Association standard.
Allan Terry owns the home on Clovis Court that was damaged last weekend. He said the lack of hydrants in the area slowed things down. Terry believes the fire was caused by fireworks that were still hot in the garage.
It took more than 40 first responders and about 32,000 gallons of water to get the blaze under control.
"The response was phenomenal, the problem was with our fire hydrant situation is they didn't have the resources they need to continue to work on the fire," Terry said.
The addition of the 12 recruits will eventually make fighting fires much faster, giving the city what is needed to tackle any emergency and more people to do it successfully.
"This gives u the ability to increase our staffing on all of our units to provide more resources on scene, safer working environments for our firefighters," Newton said.
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