Northeast Texas Community College Continuing Education Department is pleased to announce that eight students graduated from 2021 Firefighter Academy on Monday, July 19. A commencement ceremony was held and Russ Marshall, Fire Chief of the Athens Fire Department, was the guest speaker.
Graduates included: Carson Beard of Mount Pleasant, Landon Bevins of Clarksville, Marcus Carlock of Mount Pleasant, Manuel Diaz of Mount Vernon, Caleb Hall of Talco, Clinton Hockaday of Mount Pleasant, Thomas Hughes of Mount Pleasant and Ryan Lounsbury of Pittsburg. Valedictorian of the 2021 was Carlock and Bevins was Salutatorian.
“It takes a lot of dedication to complete the firefighter academy and we are so proud of these graduates. Not only does it open doors for their careers, but it also benefits our community by providing more trained fire personnel in our area,” Lisa York, NTCC Continuing Education Coordinator, said.
The six-month program consists of 400+ hours of classroom and hands-on training that prepares the students to test for Basic Structural firefighter and also includes TIFMAS engine model, HazMat, 130/190 Wildland certification and Courage to be Safe. The program is a dually designed curriculum for both career and volunteer firefighters. Both tracks lead to certification from the Texas Commission on Fire Protection and the State Firemen’s and Fire Marshall’s Association of Texas.
The next academy starts January 2022 and enrollment begins November 1. Call the Continuing Education office at 903-434-8134 or email:continuinged@ntcc.edu for more information, or visit www.ntcc.edu/fireacademy.
