SANFORD -- Eighteen students graduated from Central Carolina Community College's Fire Academy on Tuesday, March 31, at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center.
Todd Wright, Chief of the Morrisville Fire Department, was the keynote speaker.
As Fire Academy graduates, they are now certified fire fighters. The volunteers had already been serving as fire fighters in various central North Carolina fire departments. Those departments sponsored them as Fire Academy cadets.
The Fire Academy graduates and their sponsoring departments are: Bryan Ray Atkins (Apex Fire Department), Spencer Austin Berube (Northview Fire Department), William Alexander Christian Bloyd (Westarea Fire Department), Joshua Benjamin Bullock (Durham Highway Fire Department), John Jay Burnette Jr. (North Chatham Fire Department), Tommy Travis Elder Jr. (Spring Lake Fire Department), Tyler Lee Flynn (Tramway Fire Department), Colton Jeffrey Goodwin (North Chatham Fire Department), William Cody Griffin (Pittsboro Fire Department), Adam Douglas Hopper (Carolina Trace Fire Department), Ryan Jollie (Apex Fire Department), Adam Cordell Lowe (Pittsboro Fire Department), Camen Ray Mitchell (North Chatham Fire Department), Kyles Kamm Murphy (Carolina Trace Fire Department), Christian Hunt Quinlan (North Chatham Fire Department), Jonathon David Scott (Siler City Fire Department), Tramia Shari White (Apex Fire Department), and Richard Scott Wicker (Lemon Springs Fire Department).
Cadets receiving awards were: Tramia Shari White (Apex Fire Department), Most Improved Award; Ryan Jollie (Apex Fire Department), Valedictorian Award; and Tommy Travis Elder Jr. (Spring Lake Fire Department), Captain’s Award.
The Academy is a rigorous and challenging program of more than 1,000 hours of study and practice in fire and EMS emergency scenarios. The cadets completed rigorous and intensive training in fire fighting, safety and survival, physical agility, and emergency medical services at the college's Emergency Services Training Center.
Capt. Joey Shue is CCCC Fire/Rescue coordinator. Captain Cy Richardson is Fire Academy Coordinator. Lieutenant Tim Houston is Assistant Fire Academy Coordinator. Captain Tramp Dunn is Retired Fire Academy Coordinator.
CCCC began offering fire fighter training classes in 1964. In 2001, the Emergency Services Training Center was established at the former Sanford/Lee County Airport site in Sanford, providing greatly expanded facilities for training.
Since then, a new classroom building, Class-A burn building, 40-foot rescue training tower and other facilities have been added at the 116-acre site. The Fire Academy opened in January 2010. The ESTC is part of the college's Economic and Community Development Division.
The next Fire Academy class starts in July. For information, go to www.cccc.edu/estc and click on "Fire and Rescue Training" or contact the CCCC Fire and Rescue coordinator at 919-777-7778.
Members of the Central Carolina Community College Fire Academy Spring 2015 are pictured, left to right: first row, Spencer Berube, Adam Hopper, Adam Lowe, John Burnette, Christian Quinlan, Ryan Jollie, and William Bloyd; second row, Captain Cy Richardson, Cody Griffin, Bryan Atkins, Jonathon Scott, Richard Wicker, Camen Mitchell, Tommy Elder, Tramia White, Tyler Flynn, Colton Goodwin, and Lieutenant Tim Houston; third row, Kyles Murphy and Joshua Bullock.