Firefighters tested a version as part of a pilot program in 2009, rating them higher than three competitors.
After the attacks, he took the firefighter test, completing the application days before the 29th-birthday cutoff.
He is No. 6,081 on the list of applicants who have passed the city's firefighter test.
Fire officials said it would not be difficult to hire replacements from the several thousand candidates who have already passed the firefighter test.
Fire officials said they had hired 1,200 new people and planned to hire more, from the several thousand candidates who had passed the firefighter test.
"He may have had a dispute with someone in the administration, but that doesn't mean he can't answer questions about how to get a process moving to develop a new firefighter test".
The officials said they expected that Officer McMellon, who had one of the highest scores on the last firefighter test, placing 188 out of 6,000 candidates, would begin training this summer with a new class at the Fire Academy.
On Friday, fire officials said Officer McMellon had one of the highest scores on the firefighter test and was expected to be part of a new class at the Fire Academy this summer.
Re "Despite Recruiting, Few Women Do Well in Firefighter Tests" (news article, Feb. 3): A New York City fire official expresses "frustration and disappointment" that intensive recruiting has yielded few female applicants for firefighter positions and only 11 able to pass a job-related eligibility test.
But with the $270,000 report behind schedule and pressure on to grow the LAFD force, city officials decided to restart hiring, using the new lottery to determine who could take the firefighter test.
