Firefighter Exam Results Go Up In Flames

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Smiles and frowns broke out on Tuesday after a group of prospective firefighters received news about a major mess-up in the grading of their exams.

The City of Miami administered the two-part computerized test back in April, where 750 people showed up in hopes to getting a coveted Miami firefighter job, according to CBS4's news partner The Miami Herald.

Three weeks later their results came back in the mail and those who were fired up with confidence about their scores at first, were now appalled.

"People started calling and complaining," Robert Suarez, union president for the city's 600 firefighters, told the Herald. "People who took the test in the past, and who usually do better on the follow-up, did horrible."

Complaint after complaint poured in and administrators took a look and found the problem.

So what went wrong?

It turns out the master answer sheet was never fed into the computer.  Instead the first test turned in was fed into the computer and recognized as the master answer sheet, according to the paper.

The exams were re-graded and new scores were mailed out on Friday, said the paper.

The city is looking to hire as many as 45 new firefighters.

Miami's city manager said that no one will be disciplined for the mistake, but that they will make sure it doesn't happen again.

The Miami Herald contributed to this report.