16 New Firefighters Graduate Under New Chief

Sixteen new firefighters just graduated under Chief David Puckett’s leadership, marking the first class since his January debut — and a major step in Albemarle County’s push to fill critical staffing gaps. With 207 full-time employees, the department still has four openings and is already preparing for next year’s recruit class, accepting applications from July 13 to August 16. They’re not just hiring skilled candidates — Deputy Chief Heather Childress says they seek people with a true heart for service and alignment with county values, since technical training can be taught, but character can’t. The new grads are now heading into field training, responding to real emergencies — while the department also explores adding a second recruit school annually to meet growing demands. Support the show:Get a discount at https://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/496ce4fb9c307691