GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) – The pool of candidates applying to be firefighters in Central Texas has multiplied in the past number of years.

One local chief attributes the increase to the national downturn in employment, a reality that forced more people from various professions to consider more stable careers.

“There’s a lot of people looking for work,” said Georgetown Fire Chief Robert Fite. “We’ve had teachers apply. We had a lot of military apply.”

In mid-May, the Austin Fire Department saw 4,300 candidates for 106 positions. Yet, for smaller, suburban departments a comparably high number of candidates appearing during hiring sprees is stretching their limited resources like never before.

Fite said his recruiting chief will actually travel to a candidate’s hometown to personally check references and meet former teachers and employers. The larger number of candidates means filling even a few positions can take months.

The rapid growth of Georgetown, a commuter city of 47,000 just north of Austin, means the community is currently awaiting completion of its fifth fire station. That has brought two new recent hiring calls.

It’s a process the fire chief said used to draw five candidates per opening. But now, he’s seeing 20 applicants per job, many of whom are overqualified.

One of the latest hires in Georgetown is a 25-year-old Tulsa native, Aubrey Reeves. He set aside engineering school for a guaranteed $36,000 a year saving lives full-time.

“Actually my grandpa was a volunteer firefighter, but I didn’t take that into account,” said Reeves. “I knew I just love to help people.”

Reeves was only of the few who made it through demanding physical and written tests.

And the chief said the downside to the high numbers, is that the quality of candidates has gone down. That translates to even more work and time for fire department staff to sift out true top-performers.

Fite stresses the importance of getting the right candidate because sometimes the department might lose someone to a larger organization.

Fire departments such as Austin’s offer a higher starting wage. But Fite tells his potential hires that smaller, growing organizations like his offer a family environment and a chance to move up the ladder quickly.

In nearby Round Rock, a call went out a couple years ago for six firefighting jobs. Some 400 people applied.

Even today, fire department staff there said they get about a call a week from people looking for that elusive job opening.

A quick check of Texas firefighter websites found very few openings right now. Meanwhile, a recruiting drive for firefighters in Pflugerville ends Friday.