RALEIGH, N.C. — The Raleigh Fire Department is getting relief with their new recruiting class. 

In December 2022, 49 recruits graduated, becoming the largest recruiting class in the department's history. 

Earlier in 2022, the department had 25 people graduate the academy, bringing their staffing numbers up by 74 firefighters going into the new year. 

"That puts us essentially flush from a staffing perspective, which is nice. We're now sort of getting a start with a full bank of personnel," said Ian Toms, assistant chief of professional development for the Raleigh Fire Department. 

Over the last year, Toms says the department faced one of the largest staffing shortages he's seen in his 26 years with the department.

Toms says there have been occasions where they had to put an engine out of service due to the lack of personnel. 

"We still have to put people in the seats. A truck has to have at minimum three individuals on it in order for it to operate," said Toms. 

The capital city is not the only place that has faced staffing challenges. 

"It’s the same thing that all departments across the nation have experienced, it's the fact that you know a lot of individuals that would typically come to not just this line of work but many other lines of work, we just don’t see so many people coming," said Toms. 

But hope is on the horizon with their upcoming March academy. Toms says they've already had 490 people register. 

"We're in a much [better] position to go forward with much higher staffing numbers. The fact that we've now got another recruit academy that will start tentatively at the end of March, this next group coming in will just allow us to, we'll say fill with natural attrition," said Toms. 

The Department says 13 people are retiring between now and April 1.