SLVFD members Don Jones and Doug Peck graduated from the New York State Firefighter 1 course offered in Paul Smiths NY. The class began in January and ended March 28th.

The "Firefighter I" course is designed to prepare the student for work as a "combat ready" interior structural firefighter. The course combines the following courses into 1 complete course. Essentials of Firefighting, Initial Fire Attack, Fire Behavior, Haz-Mat Operations, Weapons of Mass Destruction Awareness, and Confined Space Awareness. The course also includes components of Firefighter Survival and Mask Confidence.

The Firefighter 1 course was recently revamped. This course in Paul Smiths was the first running of the new 2015 curriculum. The new course is substantially longer. It adds new requirements in first aid, CPR, and a more rigorous testing procedure on both the final practical and written exams. The new curriculum also requires the new firefighters to learn and be signed off on certain skills at their own departments. This demonstrates that they know local standing operating procedures that may differ among the various departments.

The course was held jointly between Franklin and Essex counties and included students from multiple area departments. It was co-instructed by NYS Fire Instructors Tom Tucker of the Paul Smiths Gabriel's Fire Department And Jeff Straight of the Jay Fire Department. Several other State Fire Instructors from both counties stepped in to help.

A graduation ceremony was held at the Paul Smiths fire station on Saturday to recognize this achievement. Among the approximately 50 attendees was Assistant Chief Andy McGill, Director Jim Stinson and the graduates families and friends.

Becoming a Volunteer Firefighter is a very challenging commitment, it starts with the 104 hours of basic instruction received in the FF1 course. These firefighters over the last 3 months have been training in extreme weather conditions every Tuesday and Thursday night and on most Saturdays since January. FF1 is only the beginning, training is ongoing. In addition to training there is the commitment to respond to calls and a host of other station related duties that must be done.

Feel free to click below to see the slide show presented during the ceremony (courtesy of Firefighter Don Jones)

We would like to congratulate our members, we are very proud of their achievement, and we thank them for their commitment to the fire service and our community.