Macon-Bibb County Fire Department celebrates graduation of 17 recruits
This was the first class to be trained at the new Fire Academy training complex.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Macon-Bibb County Fire Department’s latest class gathered for its commencement ceremony on Friday at Central Georgia Technical College. The ceremony celebrated the graduation of 17 recruits who received their firefighter certificates and were pinned by their loved ones.
Fire Chief Shane Edwards expressed his pride in the new graduating class.
“They all were just enormously proficient with all of their skills, exercises, and did an outstanding job in the training curriculum that we put forth the effort for,” he said.
The class of graduates was the first to be trained at the new Fire Academy training complex that opened earlier this year. The recruits trained under a new curriculum that allowed them to experience emergency scenarios that the fire department could not have provided without the new training tower.
The three-month training period consisted of rescue techniques such as High Angle Rescue, Vehicle Extrication, and AED Certification, as well as HAZMAT and EMT classes.
“We ran, we learned, we ran some more, put on gear, ran some more,” graduate Brandon Jones said. “So all of that combined, the first two weeks were definitely the hardest.”
Jones, who was assigned to the Fire Department Headquarters at Station 10, had previously worked in retail before becoming a firefighter.
“This job is exciting. It’s fun, but at the same time, it’s hard,” he said. “Because if you mess up, if you mess up bagging groceries; that’s one thing, you can fix that. If you mess up somebody’s house or mess up CPR, that’s somebody’s life.”
The Macon-Bibb County Fire Department has been designated as a Class 1 department by the Insurance Services Organization, which allows for low homeowner insurance premiums for city and county residents. Less than 50 fire departments in the country have earned the rank of Class 1.
According to Chief Edwards, the department has worked over the past two years, with the support of Macon-Bibb Mayor Lester Miller, to add more incentives for recruits, including the new training complex, a new shift schedule that is more accommodating for firefighters and new stationwear work uniforms.
“People from other departments are seeing the changes in Macon-Bibb County,” Edwards said. “Seeing some of the progressiveness that we have, and the opportunities that we have. Yes, we have quite a few vacancies in the organization, but we also have people that are retiring. And as people retire, that opens up a lot of opportunity for promotions.”
The new class of cadets will also help to alleviate staffing shortages caused by Covid-19.
The department is still accepting applications. If you’d like to become a firefighter, visit https://www.maconbibb.us/human-resources/recruitment-and-retention-division/.
