Starkville Fire Department graduates largest class of firefighters
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – MSU and Starkville High School held their graduations last month, but today there was another type of graduation in Starkville.
This one had fewer caps and gowns and more helmets and turnout gear.
The Starkville Fire Department graduated 12 new, certified firefighters.
Firefighters have to be ready for just about anything, so their training can be difficult and intense.
The Starkville Fire Department just graduated its largest class of candidates to date.
The 12 new firefighters went through two months of intense training from basic firefighting skills to handling hazardous materials, and are now fully certified.
Graduating firefighter Yaakov Weinstein said he appreciates the process and feels ready to take on the career.
“I feel amazing, I’ve grown tremendously, strength-wise, speed-wise, and we learn a tremendous amount of skills, valuable skills,” Weinstein said. “Helping people has always been a tremendous passion of mine, and now I get to do it when people are very much in a time of need. The way we are trained, the more we have learned, and it’s very powerful and very useful.”
All of the new firefighters will be part of the Starkville Fire Department.
Training Chief Brian Arnett said the ceremony is a big step forward for the department.
“It keeps me motivated, it forces me to continue to learn, which I think is a great thing in a fire service,” Arnett said. “Just to see a group of firefighters that come together in over two months, start behaving like one group, and start understanding that what I do affects everybody on this team. Because when you actually get out in the world, your actions affect everybody on the scene so to start buying into the we are one is a really big thing for me.”
This marks the 5th class to graduate from Starkville.
Weinstein said the teamwork shown from the class and the department has him excited for his next chapter as a firefighter.
“Just knowing the people that you are working with and really having that connection, it really makes you just more effective and that’s teamwork,” Weinstein said. “It is one of the most important things, we were taught going through this is learning how to operate as one.”
The 12 new certified firefighters now join the more than 13,000 across the state.
