NEWS: Wake County to Honor Recruits of Inaugural Fire Academy

1/16/2009

Wake County will hold its first Fire Academy Graduation Ceremony on Friday, January 16, 2009, at 7 p.m., at the Wake Technical Community College Student Services Conference Center, 9101 Fayetteville Road, Raleigh. Twelve recruits will receive their certifications after completing 19 weeks of training.

Wake County’s Fire/Rescue division partnered with Wake Technical Community College and Wake County’s 20 contracting fire departments to train the recruits. The County’s first Fire Academy will add more professional firefighters to handle the county’s fire protection services ranks. Currently, there are 601 volunteer, and 422 paid full- and part-time, firefighters serving in the county.

"Wake County continues to experience tremendous growth, so it is imperative that we continue to cultivate and train firefighters who are dedicated in serving our community," said Wake County Board of Commissioners Chair Harold Webb. "I commend Wake County Fire Training Director Ricky Dorsey and his staff for developing this program."

The academy, which began last September, was designed to address a need for more well-trained firefighters to join the ranks of the county’s fire departments. The program consisted of both physical fitness training and classroom instruction, and helped the cadets receive certifications in areas such as Firefighter I and II, EMT-Basic, Hazmat Operations Plus, Incident Command System (ICS), Firefighter Survival and Rescue Technician.

Several of the cadets have received offers of full-time employment from area departments, contingent upon successful completion of the program.

 

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