The Hoover Fire Department will begin hosting a firefighter recruit school on Monday. The training program will be led by Hoover firefighters and will be open to new firefighters from all over Alabama.. Firefighter recruit school is described as “basic training for firefighters.” Right now, the Hoover Fire Department expects 16 new firefighters for its recruit school. Only one person will be from Hoover, the others are coming from as far away as Orange Beach. Rusty Lowe, executive officer with the Hoover Fire Department, said this is a great opportunity for the entire department. “All of our lieutenants, battalion chiefs and even firefighters will be instructing in the school,” Lowe said. “It helps us hone our skills by teaching others. So it’s good for the whole department.” Lowe said most of the firefighters they hire are already trained, so there hasn’t been a need for a recruit school. However, he said they’re finding it a little harder to find trained firefighters. “There’s not as many people out there who are trained and ready to go,” Lowe explained. “I think you’ll see trends in the future where we look at how we’ll do our training and our hiring as well as our whole fire service to make sure we recruit the right people.” Hoover’s firefighter recruit school is a 360 hour course that’s expected to last 12 weeks.