SANFORD - Thirteen volunteer fire fighters received their fire fighter certificates from Central Carolina Community College's Fire Academy during an April 1 ceremony at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center.

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 and paid their tuition. The Academy's graduates have an 80 percent hire rate.

As cadets, they earned certifications in Firefighter I & II, Hazmat Level One Responder, Technical Rescuer General, Technical Rescue VMR, Emergency Vehicle Driving, and NCRIT (Rapid Intervention). They are also eligible to take the North Carolina Emergency Medical Technician basic certification exam.

The graduates and their sponsoring fire departments were Dalton John Stone and Clay Dixon Griffin, both by the Pittsboro Fire Department; Joshua Thomas Sosdian, Lucas James Perry and Tyler Christian Harris, all by the Apex Fire Department; Wade Edward White and Brandon George Strickland, both by the Tramway Fire Department; Kenneth Taylor Duncan, E.M. Holt Fire Department; Christopher Thomas Mullenski, Wake New Hope Fire Department; Steven McDowell Easter, Siler City Fire Department; Michael Melvin Cockman, Franklinville Fire Department; Michael Leverne Jackson, Carolina Trace Fire Department; and Colton Andrew Barrington, Wake Forest Fire Department.

Awards for outstanding performance were presented during the graduation program: Mullenski - Valedictorian and Captain's Award, Strickland - Most Improved Award, and Stone - Physical Fitness Award.

The Academy is a rigorous and challenging program of more than 1,000 hours of study and practice in emergency scenarios. Over a seven-month period, the cadets completed rigorous and intensive training in fire fighting, safety and survival, physical agility, and emergency medical at the college's Emergency Services Training Center.

Training is under the direction of Capt. Wilbert "Tramp" Dunn and Capt. Cy Richardson, Fire Academy coordinators; Lt. Tim Houston, assistant Academy coordinator; and Capt. Joey Shue, CCCC Fire/Rescue coordinator. Instructors are qualified through the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

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 August. For information, go to www.cccc.edu/estc and click on "Fire and Rescue Training" or contact Joey Shue, CCCC Fire and Rescue coordinator, at 919-777-7778 or jshue@cccc.edu.