Con Fire graduates Fire Recruit Academy 54; 22 firefighters join District ranks
Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (Con Fire) has announced the graduation of its Fire Recruit Academy 54 and the addition of 22 new probationary firefighters to the District’s ranks.
The new firefighters will support Con Fire’s four-person truck company initiative, which increased staffing — and capability — beginning last August on the District’s busiest trucks. The District will now staff all five current truck companies — and a sixth to be added next year — with four-person crews.
“I’m pleased and honored to welcome this accomplished group of 22 new firefighters to our ranks,” said Lewis T. Broschard III, fire chief, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District. “After their just-completed rigorous fire recruit academy training program they are exceptionally well prepared to step into new roles later this week as probationary firefighters in fire stations across our very busy District.”
The graduating recruits underwent a physically and mentally challenging 19-week course of instruction. In addition to basic structure firefighting techniques, recruits learned wildland fire, rescue, automobile extrication, and hazardous materials handling techniques. Training is designed to develop each recruit’s ability to function under stress and perform as a member of a disciplined firefighting crew.
The Crucible
Immediately prior to graduation, the recruits participated in the traditional end-of-academy “crucible” exercise. The recruits face a realistic 48-hour period designed to replicate what they will soon face in actual shifts as probationary firefighters. The crucible exercise included many simulated incident responses including a vehicle accident rescue and structure fires. It concluded with deployment to a training fire atop Mt. Diablo’s Eagle Peak. Trainees had to hike more than 6 miles in full wildland fire gear.
Graduation ceremony
The graduation ceremony was held at Walnut Creek’s Lesher Center for the Arts, Feb. 13, before an audience of several hundred family members, friends, local officials and public well-wishers. Each graduate was pinned with their firefighter badge and sworn in as a probationary firefighter.
The move to four-person truck company staffing is partially funded by a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Con Fire provides fire and emergency medical services to more than a million people across its 304 square-mile District area, and through mutual aid, in and around the 20 cities and unincorporated communities of Contra Costa County, California.