San Jose fire department outlines recruitment efforts, bilingual services and paramedic pipeline challenges

Fire Chief Robert Sapien and Deputy Administrative Services Director Athena Treaty presented the department’s annual staffing and recruitment report, saying sworn vacancies averaged about 8.01% in FY 2425 and that the department targeted running two recruit academies per year with 25 to 30 students each to match attrition.

They said the department was authorized 720 sworn positions in FY 2024–25 (approximately 0.75 firefighters per 1,000 residents) and that the recruitment program is supported by 1.5 full‑time equivalent staff and an annual budget of about $642,000. Treaty said roughly $300,000 supported staffing, about $122,000 supported overtime for sworn personnel serving as oral‑board panelists, and approximately $200,000 covered non‑personnel costs such as background checks and advertising.

Sapien and Treaty described outreach initiatives including a sixth annual Women’s+ boot camp (more than 75 participants) and the Fire Explorer Post. They also noted bilingual service delivery: the Fire Communications Center accessed language services for 34 languages 3,523 times; Spanish represented 63% and Vietnamese 21% of interpreted interactions, and the department reported 151 sworn bilingual staff.

Councilors asked about recruitment techniques, open‑list timing and targeted outreach to Vietnamese communities; staff said they maintain an interest list to notify candidates and batch application periods to process applicants efficiently. The committee voted to accept the report.