About 18,000 people who passed a firefighter exam in December are awaiting word on when they might be selected in a lottery as the Chicago Fire Department’s newest recruits. Some 25,300 people applied to take the exam and were ruled eligible to do so in December at McCormick Place. According to Human Resources, 4,769 never showed up for the test, and 2,583 failed.
According to the city’s Human Resources Department, 17,948 passed the test, the first given by the city since 2006. Yet no one seems certain when the call might come for new recruits or how many might be selected at first.
“At this time the [department] does not know when or how many will first be called,” Mulaney added, although the list of those who passed the test should be the source of new recruits for years to come.
According to the Fire Department, the initial pool of those taking the test found 44 percent were white, with 24 percent Hispanic and 22 percent African-American. The department was hopeful a random draw from that pool would help correct racial imbalance in the rank-and-file.
Santiago testified during last fall’s budget hearings that the department was 65 percent white, 18 percent African-American and 15 percent Hispanic. Just over 300 new recruits were hired last year, but they did not correct the imbalance.
thanks Dan
