Eighteen men came to Española Jan. 31 hoping to become the city’s newest rookie firefighter, but a written test stymied two-thirds of them.
Española Fire Chief John Kitchen said only six of the 18 applicants passed the general-comprehension written test, which includes sections on reading comprehension, math and listening comprehension.
The test requires no knowledge of firefighting skills, Kitchen said.
Of the six candidates who passed the written test, only Stephen George, of Alcalde, and Scott Buglovsky, of Canjilon, successfully completed the physical test.
Kitchen said both men were interviewed and one will be hired to start work on or before Feb. 16.
The last time the Fire Department had a round of hiring, in 2007, half of the applicants made it past the written portion, Kitchen said. But this was the first time the Department had used this particular written test, which is used by fire and police departments and detention facilities around the state and nation. Kitchen said he took the test and only missed two math questions, but the company that provides the test said a 50 percent failure rate is normal.
“That’s why we graded it four times,” Kitchen said. “I expected 50 percent, not 66 percent.”
Kitchen said the listening-comprehension portion had the highest failure rate, tripping up 11 of the 18 men.