NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 8, 1999

SIXTEEN TO GRADUATE FIRE ACADEMY AT CARY CEREMONY

CARY, NC – Sixteen Cary firefighters will be honored in a Fire Academy graduation ceremony tonight at 7:30 PM in the Cary Community Center. To graduate, recruits must pass all written and practical tests as well as meet the physical fitness requirements. This class brings Cary’s total number of firefighters to 134.

"We’re very proud of this group’s achievements," said Division Chief Todd Wright. "The benefit of recruit training to our community is that when the firefighters go on shift, they actively participate in the mitigation of emergency incidents. Without this training, they could only watch experienced firefighters work emergency incidents."

Stretching over a 22-week period, the 800 hours of Cary’s Fire Academy recruit training prepares firefighters to survive the emergencies they will face once on shift and includes dozens of individual class subjects as well as a daily physical fitness program. Training topics include emergency rescue, firefighting, the Wake County Incident Command System, radiological monitoring, HAZMAT operations, and domestic terrorism.

Cary’s Fire Academy has been in place for over 15 years, evolving tremendously during that time. Over 175 firefighters have been through recruit training over the last 15 years.

While at the Academy, the trainees are refereed to as "recruits". All graduating firefighters have the rank of Firefighter. Once they graduate from the Academy, they are referred to as "Rookies" through the completion of their first year of employment. Tonight’s graduates will begin shift work next week.

Graduating tonight are: Todd McNeill, Todd Sprague, Jason Tilley, Scott Day, Larry Stritzel, John Morgan, Patrick Overton, Richard Moore, Gene Butcher, Paul Rickert, Andy Woodlief, Eric Smith, Henry Melvin, Chuck Ottaway, Brian Couch, and Josh Collins.

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