It's a much needed boost for Worcester’s Fire Department: 31 firefighter recruits will join the 368 firefighters already on the job, but the department calls the staffing number as low as it's ever had.

The department hosted its 2022 recruit graduation ceremony at Worcester Technical High School Friday.

The candidates, who recently completed 16 weeks of drill school training, were sworn in.

The training included live fire training along with classroom book work.

Acting Deputy Chief Adam Roche said it's a special day for the recruits as they take an oath and are pinned by their loved ones.

"It's a great drill school class, and I’d like to commend and thank the instructors, who really, they came off of fire trucks for 16 weeks to help get these recruits through the academy and they put in a lot of hard work, a lot of time, a lot of effort to give them a really intensive training class, and they'll be prepared to go on firetrucks Sunday morning” said Roche.

The firefighters will start their first shift this Sunday.

The department plans on holding another recruit class in the fall.