New Volunteer Firefighters: 70 Graduate Rockland Training Program

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