A new face will be coming to the Niles Charter Township Fire Department in the near future.

On Monday, the Niles Charter Township board approved the hiring of a new firefighter for the township fire department during its regular meeting.

The public safety committee and Niles Charter Township Fire Chief Gary Brovold were authorized to select the new candidate from a list created during interviews conducted this summer.

The new firefighter will fill an opening created when Lt. Robert Ruff resigned to become fire chief for North Berrien Fire in October.

Brovold told the board his department has been spread thin since Ruff’s departure.

“It has been really stressful on the paid staff to figure out who is going to end up working each day to end up covering the shifts,” he said. “Some guys are working four to six days in a row, it’s been that bad at times where some guys haven’ t gone home for days in a row.”

Brovold estimated it would take between four to eight weeks before the new firefighter is trained well enough to take over a shift.

Jim Ringler, Terry Eull and Richard Cooper sit on the township’s public safety committee.