Zachary Meseck photo

NORWICH – The City of Norwich Common Council carried a motion to authorize a new junior firefighter program in an effort to spur interest in fire and EMS services at a young age at its meeting Tuesday night.

The motion was unanimously approved by council members, giving Norwich Fire Department the green light to move forward with the program which will be aimed at teens aged 16 and up.

At the meeting Norwich Fire Chief Jan Papelino told the council some of the fire department's current career firefighters went through a similar initiative in the past called the explorer program, and that the creation of the junior firefighter program should generate more volunteer and career firefighters in the future.

"Probably at least six of the individuals that we have on our career staff now went through the explorer program, and there are other kids that went through the program that are working in other cities," said Papelino. "So it definitely spurs early interest and it got some of them into the career that they're doing."