AUBURN – The city has hired two firefighters for the Center Street station.

William Flanders, a Vermont native, was hired to fill a vacancy created by a retirement, said Deputy Chief Mike Minkowsky.

Flanders, 21, of Morrisville, Vt., is a 2005 graduate of Peoples Academy and a 2007 graduate of Southern Maine Community College, where he earned an AAS degree in fire science. While in college he was selected for a two-year internship with Standish Fire. During his internship he was chosen as firefighter of the year. He is licensed at the EMT-Basic level.

The other hire was Christopher Poremby, 20, of Westfield, Mass. He is a 2006 graduate of Westfield High School and a 2008 graduate of Southern Maine Community College, earning an AAS in fire science. While in college he was selected to participate in a two-and-a-half-year internship with the Saco Fire Department. He is licensed at the EMT-Basic level and is enrolled at SMCC studying paramedicine.

Newly hired firefighters must successfully complete a rigorous, one-year probationary period that involves intensive firefighting skills training. Training is supervised by Auburn fire captains who are Maine certified training instructors. All training is objective-based, and recruits must show competency in each skill set.

Flanders and Poremby have been assigned to B Platoon on Tower 1, stationed on Center Street.