Twenty-one cadets graduated from Allan Hancock College’s Fire Academy this week.
The ceremony took place on May 19 at the college’s Public Safety Training Complex in Lompoc.
The graduates underwent a rigorous 18-week academy consisting of 624 hours of classroom and field instruction.
Before the ceremony, the cadets gave a live demonstration of the skills they learned, including running fire hoses, dousing burning cars, and extricating “victims” from vehicle wrecks outside the training complex's burn tower.
The ceremony was also an acknowledgment that the cadets met and exceeded the state and national certification training standards for Firefighter I Certification.
Two graduating cadets will go on to work for the Chumash Fire Department. Two others have been hired by CAL FIRE SLO and the Morro Bay Fire Department.
