The Chattanooga Fire Department Fire Academy class of 2021
The Chattanooga Fire Department’s newest firefighters are getting ready to graduate from the six-month-long fire academy and all of the skills they’ve been learning will be put to the test when they fight a real house fire this week. The live burn will take place Friday, Sept. 3, in Soddy Daisy.
The home at 10965 Dallas Hollow Road was offered to the CFD for training purposes and drills will take place on the site throughout the week, leading up to the whole-house burn on Friday. Residents in the area will see smoke and flames and a large presence of firefighters at the house Friday. The CFD and Soddy Daisy Fire Department are working together to keep the scene safe for everyone involved as the academy class works to extinguish the fire under the guidance of training staff, command staff and other veteran firefighters. The structure will be properly prepped and it will be a controlled environment.
The house burn has been something the CFD has done for decades during our fire academy. It is a way for the cadets to hone their abilities on several levels.
“This reinforces all of the training they have completed by giving them the opportunity to extinguish a fire in a true residential structure," said Training Chief William Andrews. "It’s the culmination of everything they’ve been taught for months. It is great experience before they head out into the companies at our fire halls."
Throughout this week, different things will be happening at the house. The cadets will fight small room fires and practice searching for victims and making rescues. They’ll get hands-on training doing tactical ventilation and fire extinguishment. They’ll also show that they can rescue themselves if they ever become trapped, entangled, disoriented or separated from their crew, as well as rescue other downed firefighters.
The cadet's graduation is Sept. 9. A class of 27 cadets have made it through the six-month long fire academy to become the newest members of the Chattanooga Fire Department. They have successfully completed Emergency Medical Responder training and learned about all of the different aspects of the fire service, including how to fight different types of fire. They’ve also mastered a number of other skills like hazardous materials operations, vehicle extrication, rope rescues, tactical ventilation, Rapid Intervention Techniques (saving a fellow downed or injured firefighter) and Fire Ground Survival (saving themselves from a fire if they become trapped or disoriented).
This fire academy class is a diverse group, made up of men and women who are eager to serve and protect the citizens of Chattanooga. There are a number of military veterans and reservists in this group. Lee Harper, the class president, served in the Navy and completed two deployments on a destroyer. He’s currently a hospital corpsman in the Navy Reserves. Clayton Kessler is an infantry squad leader in the Tennessee National Guard. He played Division 1 and Division 2 football and then enlisted in the military, deploying overseas. Christopher Finley is a sergeant in an armored cavalry regiment in the Tennessee National Guard. Nikolas Banks is a combat medic in the Tennessee National Guard. Davis Derkach is a rifleman in the Marine Corps Reserves. Justin Stringfellow is an Army veteran, having served as a tanker and completing a deployment to Iraq. Jordan Zink served in the Army as an infantry squad leader and in the Tennessee National Guard as team leader for an infantry unit.
Another cadet, John Hileman, has an interesting backstory. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service for several years, fighting wildfires out West. He worked on different types of crews, including hand crews, engines and helicopters, protecting property, residents and wildlife. He decided to transition from a career in wildland firefighting to a department job and chose the CFD.
Zachary Walker is from upstate New York and specifically moved to Tennessee to join the Chattanooga Fire Department. The son of an Oneida, N.Y. firefighter, he knew he wanted the same career as his father and when he saw that the CFD was hiring, he applied and moved across the country to begin our fire academy. For Zachary and his fiancée, it was the right decision and they said they’re extremely happy to be living in the Chattanooga area.
The 2021 Fire Academy will be joined by members of the first Modified Fire Academy from 2020. The modified fire academy brought several experienced firefighters on board: Justin Coffey, David Austin Eldridge, Brannon Randolph and Ryan Sawyers. They were able to quickly get out into the fire companies to assist with staffing. They will be a part of this graduation since they did not have their own ceremony during the pandemic.
The Chattanooga Fire Department Fire Academy class of 2021