FIRE ACADEMY GRADUATES — Catawba Valley Community
College's Fire Academy graduates from the Taylorsville Fire Academy include
(front row, from left) Coordinator Darren Chewning: Nicholas Wright, Taylorsville
Fire Dept.; Cody Sigmon, Taylorsville Fire Dept.; Brennan Moore, Taylorsville
Fire Dept.; Ethan Windsor, Wittenburg Fire Dept.; Roxann Byers, Taylorsville
Fire Dept.; Michael Byers, Taylorsville Fire Dept.; (back row) Nolan Rudisill,
Maiden Fire Dept.; Chris Brown, Wittenburg Fire Dept.; Cody McCarraher, Grace Chapel
Fire Dept.; Dylan Jolly, Bethelehem Fire-Rescue; Eric Walker, Ellendale Fire
Dept.; Christopher Fox, Taylorsville Fire Dept.; and Mark Stafford, Conover
Academy Instructor. Not pictured: Instructor Chris Hicks.
Catawba
Valley Community College recently held joint graduation ceremonies for Fire
Academy cadets from Catawba and Alexander counties at Alexander Central High School’s
Auditorium.
Nine cadets completed their training in Taylorsville with the Central
Alexander Fire Department, the first volunteer Fire Department to host a CVCC
Fire Academy. They are Christopher Brown, Wittenburg Fire Dept.; Michael Byers,
Taylorsville Fire Dept.; Roxann Byers, Taylorsville Fire Dept.; Cody McCarraher,
Grace Chapel Fire Dept.; Brennan Moore, Taylorsville Fire Dept.; Nolan Rudisill,
Maiden Fire Dept.; Cody Sigmon, Taylorsville Fire Dept.; Eric Walker, Ellendale
Fire Dept.; and Ethan Windsor, Wittenburg Fire Dept.
Three
cadets completed their training at the Conover Academy. They are Christopher
Fox, Taylorsville Fire Dept.; Dylan Jolly, Bethlehem Fire-Rescue and Nick
Wright, Taylorsville Fire Dept.
Cody
Sigmon, the youngest in the class, turned 16 when the academy began. He will receive
official firefighter credentials when he completes high school and turns 18.
Each
graduate completed nearly 700 hours of intense physical fitness, drills and
firefighter training over a period of seven months. They are certified as
Firefighter I & II by the North Carolina Office of the State Fire Marshall
as well as Hazardous Materials Level 1 Responder and North Carolina Rapid
Intervention Team certification.
Darren
Chewning coordinated the Fire Academy for Taylorsville Fire Dept. at the request
of Taylorsville Fire Dept., where he is an active volunteer firefighter. All
graduates completed National Career Readiness Certificates.
The
training was delivered by CVCC in collaboration with the Taylorsville Fire Department,
Conover Fire Department and their respective municipal governments that made
available nearly $2 million worth of equipment. The college also utilized more than
50 instructors with a vast array of expertise in a wide range of topics.
CVCC,
an accredited comprehensive North Carolina community college, provides 100
percent of the in-service training for firefighters, rescue and law enforcement
in Catawba and Alexander counties
<SOURCE: The Taylorsville Times>
