The Wellesley Fire Department has welcomed 7 new firefighters, all of whom completed the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy’s fifty-day Career Recruit Firefighting Training Program in May.

All of Wellesley’s new firefighters are qualified as EMTs, and they come from a variety of backgrounds. Two are military veterans, including one who was a medic embedded in a Marine unit in Afghanistan. One comes from a Wellesley family.

Chief Rick DeLorie and Assistant Chief Jeff Peterson say they are proud of the firefighters completing a challenging program, and welcome them to the team.

The recruits receive classroom training in all basic firefighter skills. They practice first under non- fire conditions and then during controlled fire conditions. To graduate, students must demonstrate proficiency in life safety, search and rescue, ladder operations, water supply, pump operation, and fire attack. Fire attack operations range from mailbox fires to multiple-floor or multiple-room structural fires.