Ten new cadet firefighters reported for their first day of orientation at the Spring Fire Department on Monday, boosting staffing at a department that protects 168,000 residents across 62 square miles of unincorporated north Harris County.

The department announced the new class on X, saying the cadets are eager to begin serving Spring.

The hires come after a selection process that included a Physical Ability Test at the W.W. "Cotton" Weaver Training Center in mid-July. That test begins with a 100-foot climb straight up to the bucket of Tower 70. The climb is mandatory.

Spring Fire operates as a combination department with 126 full-time firefighters, 10 part-time firefighters and 25 volunteers staffing nine stations around the clock, according to the department's recruitment page. The 10 new cadets represent a roughly 8% increase to the full-time career ranks.

The department's coverage area includes approximately 47,000 homes in more than 100 subdivisions, over 25 schools from three school districts, and stretches of Interstate 45, the Hardy Toll Road and the Grand Parkway. Spring Fire holds an ISO Class 2 Public Protection Classification, a rating that evaluates fire suppression capabilities including response time, staffing and training. That rating can directly affect homeowner insurance premiums in the district.

The cadets will train at the Weaver Training Center on Lexington Road, a roughly 63-acre campus that opened in 2025. The department hired Kevin J. Alexander Jr. as its first district chief of professional development in November 2025, a role overseeing training and leadership programs. Alexander brought more than 30 years of experience from the Houston Fire Department.

Orientation runs approximately three weeks, according to the department's Facebook page.

Spring Fire, founded in 1953, is pursuing an upgrade to ISO Class 1, one step above its current rating. Fire Chief Scott Seifert has framed the department's growth as a long-term investment, saying in a department feature about the training center: "We can't be thinking today only about today. What we are doing is building to last fifty years or more."

Residents can see the training center in person at the department's first Fire Prevention Month Safety Fest on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Weaver campus.