The South Carolina Fire Academy graduated 20 recruits, Friday, March 4, 2022, from its eight-week firefighter candidate school in Columbia. Front row (left to right): Lucas Sosa, Bluffton Township Fire District; Sebastian Colon-Aviles, Fort Mill Fire Department; Caroline Shreve, Clemson University Fire & EMS; Jordan Barrow, Bluffton Township Fire District; Nathan Tarkenton, Easley Fire Department; Carson Eckhardt, St. Andrews Public Service District; and Valentino Gario, U.S. Virgin Islands Port Authority Second row (left to right): Jason Proctor, Hilton Head Island Rescue; Nicholas DeMusis, Hilton Head Island Fire Rescue; Bradford Dawson, Burton Fire District; Matthew Brown, Newberry City Fire Department; Matthew Charnock, Aiken Department of Public Safety; John Esposito, James Island Public Service District; and Christopher Ellington, James Island Public Service District Back row (left to right): Daniel Norton, Bluffton Township Fire District; Jelani Prince, U.S. Virgin Islands Port Authority; Britton Beatson, Sumter Fire Department; Darian Hair, Newberry Fire Department; Jerome Foy, St. Andrews Public Service District; and Brandon Evans, C&B Fire Department
Courtesy photo
COLUMBIA — The South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation’s South Carolina Fire Academy graduated 20 recruits, Friday, March 4, 2022, from its eight-week firefighter candidate school in Columbia. These firefighters underwent a 320-hour training program of classroom and hands-on firefighting skills development. Keynote speaker was Deputy Chief William Shiver, Jr., Clemson University Fire and EMS.
Matthew Brown, Newberry City Fire Department and Darian Hair, Newberry Fire Department were two of those graduates.
“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.”