| CAMARILLO – Thirty-three trainees from the 60th Ventura County Regional Training Academy graduated (May 26), joining the Ventura County and City of Ventura fire departments as probationary firefighters.
“Our standard is excellence, delivered with pride,” Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said. “These new firefighters have shown throughout their training that they are ready to deliver that level of service to our community. Now, the work to live up to that promise and their new badges begins.”
The Ventura County Fire Department added 31 of those firefighters to its ranks. The new firefighters will allow the department to add a paramedic squad in Simi Valley and replace firefighters who have retired or left the department. The two other firefighters will join the Ventura City Fire Department.
“As these new firefighters graduate and join our team, we welcome them to Ventura and thank them for choosing to dedicate their lives to serving and protecting our residents,” said Ventura Fire Chief David Endaya. “We are confident both Jeff and Melissa will provide the highest quality of service and look forward to the contributions they will make.”
Under the leadership of the Ventura County Fire Department’s training staff, the trainees completed 20 weeks of training in all disciplines of firefighting, including structural firefighting, wildland firefighting, vehicle extrication and emergency medical care.
Over the next year, the new firefighters will be continually evaluated to demonstrate their competency before completing their probationary period.
The graduates of Academy 60 are:
Joseph Apodaca, VCFD
Omar Bahena, VCFD
Sebastian Barba, VCFD
Michael Bolton, VCFD
Jeff Braun, Ventura City Fire Department
Ricky Combs, VCFD
Avery Cook, VCFD
Alfredo Cordova, VCFD
Melissa Corney, Ventura City Fire Department
Mitchel Guske, VCFD
Eric Guzman, VCFD
Victor Hernandez, VCFD
Shane Ho, VCFD
William Jolley, VCFD
Ryan Long, VCFD
Abraham Lopez, VCFD
Miguel Martinez, VCFD
Jake McCready, VCFD
Michael Mendez, VCFD
Tyler Monday, VCFD
Mathew Mosley, VCFD
Samuel Mulholland-Wong, VCFD
Brandon Proett, VCFD
Andrew Rosales, VCFD
Evan Silk, VCFD
Tasha Sobol, VCFD
Michael Spafford, VCFD
Grady Steward, VCFD
Shane Strachan, VCFD
Cole Wachter, VCFD
Patrick Wood, VCFD
Chad Woodard, VCFD
Pedro Zepeda, VCFD |
