Overseas firefighters who stepped in to fill a staffing gap at Bermuda’s airport are likely to remain on the island for “at least” another year, the Minister of National Security has revealed.

Michael Weeks reported more than sufficient numbers of Bermudian recruits had flocked to fill openings at the airport for the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service – although the rigorous qualifications for the job have ruled out the majority of applicants.

Ten Canadian staff clocked on at LF Wade International Airport in July to keep the island in compliance with international air standards.

Mr Weeks said last week that a further 25 firefighters from Canada had been taken on, to cover airport requirements through to the end of next March.

But the minister told The Royal Gazette yesterday the assistance would probably be needed well beyond that point.

“The Canadian firefighters are going to be here until at least the end of March,” Mr Weeks said. “But realistically, it’s going to be a year.

“The key is, once we get our new recruits, we have to train them to get them ready for that work.

“There’s a lot of training before we get to on-the-job training – and there is specialist training that’s required for those that would be working at the airport.”

Getting new Bermudian firefighters fully versed in the exacting standards for the airport job demands training of “at least a year to 18 months, at minimum”, Mr Weeks said.

As the BFRS celebrated its 2020 recruits at an awards ceremony yesterday, Mr Weeks revealed there had been 253 Bermudian applicants for 11 slots to shore up numbers at the service – including at the airport, with training to start shortly.

But out of those, 216 were shortlisted, with only a fraction staying in the running.

Mr Weeks said: “We are now down to 19. Out of those 19, we will get the 11 we are looking for.”

He added: “We need more than that. But we have what we advertised for.”

The fire service’s difficulties in finding Bermudian staff to meet its needs go back more than a decade.

In 2010 the Gazette reported a recruitment drive had rejected almost all local applicants because the strict academic, psychological and drug tests as well as fitness requirements excluded the majority of would-be Bermudian firefighters.

Mr Weeks conceded yesterday that he would like to see more – but that Bermuda was constrained by its size.

“There’s a combination of factors here, but in Bermuda we have a limited pool,” he said. “We have to pick from the same pool of people that want to be police officers, people that want to be Corrections officers.

“The pool shrinks – and we are lucky when we get the number that we are looking for in any one profession.”

The gratitude among BFRS ranks, who faced burnout covering airport shifts, was expressed yesterday at the service’s awards ceremony.

Acting Sergeant Gavin Carter closed the awards with words of thanks to the overseas firefighters.

“We want to acknowledge our colleagues that have joined us all the way from Canada,” he said. “They answered the call to Bermuda when we were in some dire straits.”

None could attend the ceremony, he added, because “they are at the airport – doing exactly what we called them to do”.