For Rockland County volunteer firefighters, Thursday night's graduation ceremony to honor newly-trained volunteers was a true family affair.
Among the 84 volunteers who received their certificates for completion of training programs there were many second- and third-generation volunteer firefighters. From the Nyack Fire Department, six new volunteers received their certificates — with three of those firefighters being the sons of current firefighters.
William Lynch, a longtime volunteer with Nyack's Orangetown Engine Co. No. 1 in South Nyack, took to the stage at the Cultural Arts Center at Rockland Community College to watch as his twin sons, Ryan and Sean Lynch, received their cerficates for completing the Firefighter I program — the basic training program for new firefighters. Ryan and Sean are also members of Orangetown Engine Co. No. 1.
Also receiving a Firefighter I certificate was James Weck Jr., son of Nyack F.D. Deputy Chief James Weck. Like his father, Weck Jr. is a member of NFD's Empire Hool and Ladder Co. No. 1 in Upper Nyack.
"It made me very proud," said Weck Sr. "He's the third generation of Wecks to join Empire since 1950.
Weck Sr.'s father was a member of Empire from 1950 to 1988, and like his son on Thursday, he too became a volunteer firefighter at age 16.
Also completing Firefighter I training for Nyack were Carlos A. Hernandez, Paul M. Mitchell and Richard J. Viaggiani.
Rockland County Fire and Emergency Services Director Gordon Wren Jr., also a Hillcrest volunteer, said Rockland County has a long tradition of sons - and daughters - following in the footsteps of family members to become volunteer firefighters. Wren's own daughter, Alexandra, is also a Hillcrest volunteer firefighter.
"We're still able to maintain that volunteer tradition in Rockland County despite the odds," said Wren.
Rockland County has 26 fire departments, all staffed 100 percent by volunteers. In New City, Fire Cheif Kenny Flynn said Thursday's graduation was exciting for him and his department because of a large contingent of new firefighters from New City.
Flynn explained that his department usually has two or three members in each graduating class, but in Thursday's group there were six from New City:
- Brian A. Butrico
- Victor Caraballo
- Christopher Faso
- Thomas Henion
- Kenneth Louden
- Matthew Rogers
In another second-generation firefighter connection, Thomas Henion was met on stage during graduation by his father Dennis, who started his Rockland County firefighting efforts with the Sparkill Fire Department before joining in New City.
At Thursday night's graduation session, 84 volunteers (82 from Rockland and 2 from Orange County) were cited for completing their training, with many of them having completed a second phase of training known as Firefighter II. The Firefighter I course requires 87 hours of training at the Rockland County Fire Training Center in Pomona, with additional study at home. The Firefighter II course is an additional 27 hours of training.
Click here for more photos from the graduation ceremony.
As the new firefighters prepared to pick up their graduation certificates, veteran firefighter Christopher Kear encouraged them to be active in their fire departments and prepare to become future leaders of those departments. Kear is a former Hillcrest fire chief and he works as a firefighter for Greenwich, CT.
"Some of the volunteers here today will the officers and chiefs of tomorrow," said Kear. "Rockland county is very fornutate to have a great, strong volunteer base."
Here are the graduates, their departments and the course they completed:
Jan 10, 2013
By Dept
FD Name
CLASSES
Last name
Turchyn
First name
Andriy
Blauvelt
FF I
Edwards
Adam Z
Congers
FF I
Slinn
Sean P
“
FF I
Castillo
Francis M
Haverstraw
FF I
Chevere
Xavier
“
FF I
Hernandez
Alioska
“
FF I
Lowry
Michael J
“
FF I
Maldonado Jr
Carnelo
“
FF I
Martinez
Baneury R
“
FF I
Mota
Rosabely
“
FF I
Pileggi
Matthew J
“
FF I
Berrios
Edgar
Hillcrest
FF I
Borden
Zachery
“
FF I
Capone
Steven W
“
FF I & II
Cedeno II
Nelson A
“
FF I
Freeman
Joshua C
“
FF I
King
Brian A
“
FF I
Senat
Abel W
“
FF I
Spaeth
Bintomin
“
FF II
Wamsley
James C
“
FF I
Retome
Israel B
Monsey
FF I & II
Butrico
Brian A
New City
FF II
Caraballo
Victor G
“
FF II
Faso
Christopher S
“
FF II
Henian
Thomas
“
FF I
Louden
Kenneth A
“
FF I & II
Rogers
Matthew
“
FF II
Hernandez
Carols A
Nyack
FF I
Lynch
Ryan M
“
FF I
Lynch
Sean P
“
FF I
Mitchell
Paul M
“
FF I
Viaggiani
Richard J
“
FF I
Weck Jr
James G
“
FF I
Amadi
Damien N
Orangeburg
FF I
Gordon
Kenneth V
“
FF I
Pimentel
Emanuel
“
FF I
Chanin
Eric C
Pearl River
FF II
Loughran III
Michael C
“
FF I & II
Murtagh
Matthew
“
FF II
Redmond
John
“
FF II
Sullivan
Stephen M
“
FF I
Wholey Sr
Jeremiah P
“
FF I
Artrip
Hugh
Piermont
FF I
Bonkoski
Kevin M
Slaotsburg
FF I
Stella
Joseph E
“
FF I
Hasenfus Jr
Paul F
Sparkill
FF I
Panter
Joshua B
“
FF I
Tedesco
Timothy G
“
FF I
Weber
Randy L
“
FF II
BenAmmar
Israel B
Spring Valley
FF I
Leitner
Sarah Y
“
FF I
Martial
Emerson J
“
FF I
Berretta
Joseph A
Stony Point
FF I
Cass
Christopher M
“
FF I
Cirrilla
Anthony B
“
FF II
Huslinger
Joseph R
“
FF I
Jordan
Chris R
“
FF I & II
Peralta
Thomas
“
FF I
Willem
Kenneth G
“
SSO
Jodice
Michael J
Suffern
FF I
Morena
Matthew J
Tallman
FF I
Gangemi
Andrew T
Tappan
FF I & II
Scherf
Matt R
“
FF I
Bello
Robert J
Valley Cottage
FF I
Carozza
John J
“
FF I
Coe
Kevin M
W. Haverstraw
FF I
Karwee
Armah
“
FF I
Keane
Devon M
“
FF II
Kearns
Edward R
“
FF II
Scaglione
Vincent
“
FF I & II
Veras
Kevin W
“
FF I
Willis
Kendell R
“
FF I
Duran
Adyel
West Nyack
FF I & II
Grogan
Kevin
“
FF I
Keane
Devon M
“
FF I
Curcio Jr
Vincent A
S. Spring Valley
FF I
Ryan
John C
“
FF I
Black
Robert I
Thiells
FF I
Johnson
Vyne A
“
FF I
Miller
Michael S
“
FF I
Sargent-Bell
Bigon
“
FF I
Weireter
Jennifer M
“
FF I
McNeil
Matt S
Warwick
FF I
Stark
John P
Washingtonville
FF I
Total
84
