ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — It was a proud day for the Albany Fire Department as 17 members graduated from the academy on Tuesday. The new members joined 260 others in the department.

They spent the last few months learning and training together, but one graduate said the hard work doesn’t stop after graduation.

“Training is very important — to continue to train to continue to learn to get better,” Zeph Kozakiewicz said. “The job shows you something new every day, so continue to train to get better at what we do and prepare for the things that we might see is very important not only for us but the citizens that we serve.”

The Albany Department of Civil Service officers a written exam for firefighters every two years.