Sixteen Fishers Fire Department recruits complete fire training academy and are ready to serve
By Ann Craig-Cinnamon
What kid doesn’t see a fire truck and want to climb aboard and take a ride? Many dream of becoming a firefighter when they grow up. For 16 Fishers fire recruits, it is a dream come true.
The 16, along with six Carmel Fire Dept. recruits, graduated in a ceremony held June 25, following 22 weeks of tough training. Fishers Fire Dept. spokesman John Mehling says it is a challenging class.
“It has many similarities to the Armed Services Boot Camp. It is both mentally and physically taxing consisting of long days in whatever weather conditions are provided by Mother Nature that day. Recruits often discover limitations in themselves which must be overcome to meet success. There is a mental and physical growth through this process that teaches recruits the importance of working as a team, knowing the consequences of failure, and understanding failure is not an option. Those who successfully complete this course have likely experienced moments when their mind or body said they couldn’t, but through perseverance, and in many cases shear will, they pushed on,” he says.
There are typically hundreds of applicants and Mehling says recruits are chosen solely by scores and performance. According to Division Chief of Training and Safety Charlie Fadale, the academy consists of EMT training and fire class with training in special operations and hazmat awareness. Fadale spoke highly of the recruits. “We had a great class. We had the full gamut. I think we ranged all the way from 21 to 35 and you have to be hired before your 36th birthday and one individual turned 36 the week after we started. So, full gamut, everyone performed well. And we’re ready to go and they’re ready to hit the streets,” he says.
The recruit that just barely made the age cut is Amie Flowers, one of seven women in the department. And for her it is a life-long dream realized.
“This means the world to me. I’m so blessed. The excitement that I’ve had from the beginning of the process, getting my letter saying that I was accepted and now the end of the recruit class. I just can’t wait to continue my journey now with Fishers as a career firefighter. I’m blessed,” she says. Flowers has been trying to get on the department for several years and has been a volunteer for Castleton, Lawrence Township and Buck Creek.
For recruit Nate Ginley, being a firefighter runs in the family with a grandfather, two uncles and a cousin on the Indianapolis Fire Dept. He, too, had volunteered for years while trying to get hired full time and is very excited to be on the Fishers department.
“Fire school was a blast. We all worked together as a team. All the recruits we had were just awesome. We worked together good and that got us by. We stuck together as a group. It was physical. Hot days were the worst. We got tired but we stuck it out kept our heads straight and we got through it. It was the best time of my life. It was the best training I’ve ever had in the fire service, for sure,” he says.
Jordan McClellan applied to the department two years ago and when he was selected, he moved here with his family from Ohio. He had an interesting encounter right before training began.
“It was my first day at the Fishers Y which was the Sunday before we started the academy. I was working out when a guy went into cardiac arrest and fell off the treadmill. I started CPR on him and we actually shocked him twice with the defibrillator there before the medics arrived. From what I was told, he is living a normal life at this time,” says McClellan.
This class is a large one and represents more than ten percent of the whole department according to Fire Chief Steve Orusa, who says he is excited to have the new recruits on board.
“I think that we have a robust fire service in Fishers especially our EMS service. I personally think we have one of the most robust EMS services in the state. We’ve got paramedics on engines and on ambulances. The national save rate is 10 percent for cardiac arrest, ours is 65 percent so we’re pretty excited about that. We’re making a difference in our community and we have high expectations for these recruits and I know they’ll make a difference,” says the chief.
If you are interested in a career as a firefighter, you can find information at www.fishers.in.us.
Qualifications to be a Fishers firefighter:
Must be 21 years of age
American citizen
Healthy and fit
Clean record (No felony convictions – Background checks are extensive and effective)
Emergency Medical Technician or Paramedic a plus
Associates degree in Fire Science a plus
Common sense
Good work ethic
Determination
Positive attitude
