Laid Off San Jose Firefighters Return To Duty

SAN JOSE (KCBS) - Many San Jose firefighters who were laid off last year were welcomed back Friday.

San Jose Fire Chief Willie McDonald pinned badges back on 22 of the 49 firefighters who were let go last August as the result of budget cutbacks.

"It's an incredible day because I felt like last year we really should have been able to find a way to avoid this," McDonald said.

KCBS' Mike Colgan reports:

"We weren't able to do it. Having the opportunity to offer the job back to some incredible folks, who committed themselves to us and our community and have agreed to come and do that again is an incredible feeling."

Brandon Einhorn, one of the firefighters laid off last year, said it was great to get back into the family business.

"My grandfather is a retired Sunnyvale police and fire, and I have two uncles and a cousin that also worked in the service. They're all retired now so I'm the last one so it's nice to keep the tradition going," Einhorn said.

Their academy class starts on Monday. There is a second academy class that begins in September. That class will be for 27 firefighters that have been hired from other departments to replace those who decided not to return.

Chief McDonald explained that having staffing restored to 650 will likely mean the end of brownouts. That's the controversial practice of removing two engine companies from daily service as a result of staffing reductions.

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