NEWBERRY — Timothy Beaudoin, Newberry City Fire Department, graduated from the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation’s South Carolina Fire Academy (eight-week firefighter candidate school in Columbia) on Dec. 4.
Beaudoin, along with 21 other recruits, underwent a 320-hour training program of classroom and hands-on firefighting skills development. Keynote speaker was Chief William Broscious, Columbia Fire Department.
“This challenging program requires commitment, passion, and dedication,” Fire Academy Superintendent Dennis Ray said. “These recruits have successfully worked together as a team, performed extensive hands-on training with live fires, and passed intensive practical skills evaluations and written tests to meet the National Fire Protection Association standards.”
The comprehensive training, offered quarterly at the Fire Academy, includes emergency responder first aid training, hazardous materials operations training, auto extrication, flammable liquids and gas firefighting, rescue training, and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Firefighter I and Firefighter II levels.
Additionally, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, changes were made to class structure and facilities to promote social distancing and recommended precautions.
“With the successful completion and graduation of these new firefighters, who will now be dedicating their lives to serving their communities and the state, our South Carolina fire service is enhanced,” Ray said. “I am proud of their accomplishments, and I also commend the dedicated Fire Academy instructors who brought the recruits through these weeks of instruction leading to graduation.”
The following recruits graduated Dec. 4, 2020:
• Luis Aponte, Bluffton Township Fire District
• Timothy Beaudoin, Newberry City Fire Department
• Nicholas Bekisz, Burton Fire District
• Matthew Bex, Bluffton Township Fire District
• Brandon Borrero, North Charleston Fire Department
• Payton Chambers, McCrady / Troops to Firefighters
• Brandon Clements, Beaufort / Port Royal Fire Department
• Mauricio Gallego, Burton Fire District
• Andrew Guest, Honea Path Fire Department
• Montana Gunter, Lexington County Fire Service
• Andrew Harmon, Sumter Fire Department
• Kayla Katt, Colleton County Fire-Rescue
• Austin A. Kline, Spartanburg City Fire Department
• Brock McDaniel, Jasper County Fire-Rescue
• Seth McQueen, McCrady / Troops to Firefighters
• Zachary Patrick, Colleton County Fire-Rescue
• Nelson Ramirez, McCrady / Troops to Firefighters
• Terrence Reed, Lexington County Fire Service
• Collin Roach, Bluffton Township Fire District
• Ty’Reek Scott, Beaufort / Port Royal Fire Department
• Carson Spencer, Sumter Fire Department
• Wesley Theobald, Burton Fire District
The Fire Academy provides emergency services training to the municipal fire service — both paid and volunteer — airport crash rescue departments, industrial fire brigades and emergency teams and service organizations including EMS, law enforcement and military from around the state and the world. The Fire Academy is accredited by the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress and National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications (Pro Board) for multiple NFPA firefighter levels.
The Fire Academy and the State Fire Marshal’s Office make up the Division of Fire and Life Safety, which is a division of the S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
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