There is a fresh energy within the Altona/Rhineland Fire Department thanks to handful of new recruits.

Six new recruits were recently accepted into the fold and three cadets will also join the department when they turn of age later this year.

"It looks like by the time the cadets are on, and we have one other former cadet who's been on the department for a while, we'll have ten people that require Level One (training)," said Fire Chief, Greg Zimmerman. Level One is the entry level course for fire fighting and is the minimum requirement for a person to enter a building and fight a fire. In the meantime, he said the new members will become certified in things like CPR and First Aid.

Zimmerman added the six new recruits alone bring the department's numbers up to 27, which he feels is a good size and exceeds most other smaller rural fire departments.

"Usually between twenty-five and thirty gives you a very large recruit base, a large fire fighting base."

With about half of the town's fire fighters able to respond to daytime calls, Zimmerman said Altona still has one of the highest daytime responses in the area.