DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. --
Channel 2 Action News has confirmed yet another twist in the on-again, off-again firing of 82 DeKalb County fire recruits.
On Wednesday, the 82 recruits were told they were fired, again.
A county spokesman told Channel 2's John Bachman that DeKalb County Fire Chief Edward O'Brien needs to cut $7 million from his budget and after first firing the recruits on March 28, the chief thought he had figured out a way to keep them. Turns out, he did not.
"It's a tough call,” said DeKalb County spokesman Burke Brennan. “Would we have served them better by withholding information from them?" said Brennan.
Bachman spoke with one of the fired recruits on condition of anonymity.
“You train hard and then you're told you're going to be gone," the recruit said.
O'Brien told the entire class of recruits after lunch Wednesday that their last day is April 15.
"To see these 80 folks hurt like this, and 80 families affected again, it's just not right," the recruit said.
The Atlanta Fire Department has 110 openings. They had offered jobs to the recruits after the first layoff announcement in March. Bachman checked and officials said that offer still stands. The deadline to apply is Friday.
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