BEACON – When the City of Newburgh was forced to lay off 15 career firefighters on January 1 because of continued budget woes, two were hired by Middletown while others were picked up by Fairview and the City of Poughkeepsie.

Now, the Beacon Fire Department has hired another Newburgh layoff casualty.

Fire Chief Gary VanVoorhis said Christopher Baum is made to order for Beacon.

“He probably lost about a week’s pay (before transferring to Beacon) and he is doing very well; he’s well trained, has experience; three years as a firefighter and he is fitting well in the City of Beacon,” the chief said.

Two other men are attending the state’s 11-week firefighting training school and when they graduate, Beacon will have a total of 16-career firefighters in addition to their 18 volunteers.

Recruiting enough volunteers to cover the city is a problem communities across the region and nation are facing.