Seventy , many of them new to firefighting, received their state certificates in a fire training graduation ceremony Tuesday at the Rockland Community College in Ramapo.
The volunteers represented 18 of Rockland’s 26 all-volunteer departments, and received their certificates from their county fire instructors, in front of fire chiefs, department volunteers and their families and friends.
The class includes four volunteers from West Hamilton Beach FD in Queens and one each from Harriman in Orange County and Croton-on-Hudson in Westchester who participated in training at the Rockland County Fire Training Center in Pomona.
All graduates received a copy of the new Blue Book, an introduction to the fire service organizations of Rockland County. The book was conceived by Kenneth Wanamaker, a former chief of the Central Nyack FD and life member of the Rockland County Volunteer Firemen’s Association. It was produced through the joint efforts of the RCVFA and the Committee to Promote Volunteerism in Rockland County Emergency Services, Inc.
The book introduces the graduates to various fire service organizations available to them in Rockland, and also contains membership applications.
The graduates gave 87 hours of their own time to attend the state’s Firefighter I course. Many of them went on to take the 27 hours advanced Firefighter II course as well.
They will help fill the ranks of the county’s almost 2,500 active volunteers.
“While the state average of Firefighter I graduates is around 70 percent, Rockland continues to be among that state leaders with a graduation rate of more than 90 percent,” said John Kryger, a deputy county fire coordinator. “That number is a tribute to our graduates, our instructor staff, and the Fire Training Center which enjoys a national reputation.”
The county also has a 75 percent rate of those graduates going on to the advanced Firefighter II course.
In this graduation, the largest groups of new firefighters were in Nanuet, Valley Cottage and Haverstraw.
Valley Cottage Fire Chief Howard Gerber said he is excited that his department has nine volunteers who completed the training. However, he's already losing one of those volunteers, Joe Dillon, to military service — he's joined the Air Force.
Gerber noted that his department normally only has one or two new members for the basic training courses at the Fire Training Center, so Tuesday's group was large for his department.
In Nanuet, Chief A.J. Knapp said is department was also pleased to have a large group that participated in the training. Although one member was a captain who went to complete the Firefighter II training, he said the rest were new, young members.
"They are the future of the fire department," Knapp said.
The graduation ceremony also included a special presentation from the class and Piermont firefighters to Dr. Neal Kane. Kane was part of the Firefighter I training program but suffered an illness during the program.
Firefighter I course consists of the following: of performance criteria in incident command, building construction, ropes/knots, rescue procedures, forcible entry applications, ventilation practices, fire extinguisher applications, suppression of structural fires, tactics, vehicle suppression, water supply, loss control, fire cause determination, fire department communications, fire suppression systems, hazardous materials, weapons of mass destruction, confined space safety and fire prevention practices. It is designed for entry-level firefighters.
Firefighter II consists of the following: performance criteria in incident command implementation, building materials and collapse, special rescue, hydrant flow and operability, hose tools, foam operations, flammable liquid/gases, detection, alarm systems, fire cause and origin, fire department communications, pre-fire planning, special situations, strategy and tactics. It is designed for interior structural firefighters and/or firefighters who may serve as team or group leaders.
Department
Course
Cantania
Michael A
Blauvelt-1
FFII
Catania
Michael A
1
FFI
Conklin
Michael W
Central Nyack-2
FFII
Conklin III
William
2
FFII
Coughlin
Chris R
2
FFII
Pearle
Kurt T
2
FFII
Miano
Ricky
-3
FFII
Acosta
Fernando
Haverstraw-4
FFI
Augusto
DeLoin A
4
FFII
Caccioppoli
Anthony
4
FFI & II
Fernandez
Dery E
4
FFII
Inoa
Frank T
4
FFI
Santiago
Anthony D
4
FFII
Stobo
Robert S
4
FFI
Aguilar
Byron E
Hillcrest-6
FFII
Albery
C Jean
6
FFI
Cabillis
Matthew D
6
FFII
Carela
Ted
6
FFI
Potischman
Jeffrey L
6
FFI
Moskovits
Yisroel
Monsey-7
FFII
Antong
Leon J
Nanuet-8
FFI
Cassidy
Thomas S
8
FFI
Galyon
Matthew R
8
FFI
Jacobson
David J
8
FFII
Kallarackal
Kiran T
8
FFI
Mathew
Jeffrey Z
8
FFI
Schonleber Jr
William H
8
FFII
Wargo
Peter J
8
FFI
Mishkel
William T
Nyack-10
FFI
Ahlf
Karl T
Orangeburg-11
FFII
Bogosian
Megan K
11
FFII
Geoghegan
Conor E
11
FFI
Meyer
Sergei A
11
FFI
Potamianos
Christopher G
Pearl River-12
FFI
Wholey
Jerry
12
FFI
Bloomquist
Timothy H
Piermont-13
FFII
Cho
Hyun D
Sparkill-16
FFI & II
Hancock
Thomas N
16
FF!
Celestin
Jeff A
Spring Valley-17
FFI
Gerbath
James
Stony Point-18
FFI
Priest
Colin F
18
FFI & II
Alvarado
Andrew T
Suffern-19
FFI
Kinsley
Daniel A
19
FFII
Murphy
Brianne M
19
FFI
Wynne
Daniel J
19
FFI & II
Zembriski
Jeffrey W
19
FFI
Bausinger III
Robert J
Valley Cottage-22
FFI & II
Cicchini
Claudio P
22
FFI
Dillon
Christopher M
22
FFII
Dillon
Joe
22
FFII
Garrabrant
Kyle P
22
FFI & II
Medina
Mars A
22
FFI
Shanahan
James C
22
FFI
Sullivan
Patrick A
22
FFI & II
Thakur
Pranob
22
FFI
Perez
Thomas A
West Haverstraw-23
FFI & II
Rosario
Taylor A
23
FFI & II
Sambrato
Michael J
23
FFII
Zajac
John F
23
FFII
Delucia
Jonah R
Thiells-26
FFI
Iarucci
Matthew
26
FFII
Morano
Martin V
26
FFI
Rodriguez
Dominick J
26
FFI
Torres
Alex F
26
FFI
Walls Jr.
Richard J
Harriman, NY
FFII
Dinkler
Jake R
Croton-on-Hudson, NY
FFII
Finholt
Tyrone J
West Hamilton Beach, Queens
FFII
Horry
Lynell
West Hamilton Beach, Queens
FFII
Lebron
Juan R
West Hamilton Beach, Queens
FFII
Martinez Jr.
Ruben
West Hamilton Beach, Queens
FFII
Total
70
