Orange County Fire Rescue has welcomed 145 new firefighters
Despite a global pandemic, Orange County grows and so does its firefighting workforce.
In August, Class 90, a group of 47 cadets, graduated from training and joined the ranks of Orange County Fire Rescue.
Graduation looked different from previous ceremonies with invited guests not arriving in person at the Full Sail University classroom along with the cadets, and instead watched over the internet.
Just like their training, graduation was modified in compliance with COVID-19 safety concerns. About 829 friends and loved ones watched the live streamed ceremony as Chief James Fitzgerald congratulated each of the new cadets. A congratulatory video of Mayor Jerry Demings was also played. Another 2,300 viewers watched the ceremony video online after the live stream was over and posted.
Ricardo Vaz, one of the leaders of Class 90, summed up the differences his class faced this year during a speech at graduation
“Orange County Fire Rescue and all the instructors and staff … kept us safe with masks, mandatory temperature checks and having us maintain social distance while still being able to train hard and train as a team,” he said.
The 47 are part of a total 145 recruits who joined OCFR this year after its training program was remodeled to preserve the health of recruits and trainers. A total of 190 have joined since the start of the year and before COVID restrictions.
“With all the COVID related guidelines, it made a lot of things different,” said Chief Jason Perrigo, who’s been training recruits for the last five years. “Keeping them as safe as possible has always been a priority, though this year that was on the forefront.
We had to make sure they’re keeping their facial protection on. We kept them in smaller size training groups, and they cleaned everything they used.”
While fire rescue material hadn’t change, classes did work more with personal protective equipment then they had in previous months, Perrigo said.
Many items of change were considered for the incoming classes, including one early idea in the beginnings of COVID con
cerns, which was to bring the cadets into service sooner than their training would have otherwise called for, Perrigo said.
“We were prepared to shorten the orientation process and bring them into service sooner if our intake had become large enough,” Perrigo said. “Luckily, we never got to that point.”
Among the new recruits over the summer was 22-year-old Caprice Isiah. Both of his parents work for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, but Isiah felt the call to serve with OCFR after an incident he was involved with while in his senior year of high school. Isiah was at a hotel not far from International Drive when he and his friends noticed a child not moving at the bottom of the pool. Isiah rescued the child as others called 911. A crew from station 57 arrived and took over in successfully keeping the child alive.
“They were so composed, and quick on their game. I wanted to be part of that,” Isiah said.
And he did. Isiah said he and his fellow recruits had standard physical, endurance and procedural training as well as the addition of sanitizing fire engines, cleaning rescue equipment and training tools, and scrubbing bathrooms and the rest of the station. Isiah graduated in May and serves a community of 870,000, which shows no sign of slowing its growth. Orlando home sales surged by 46% in the month of June compared to May despite the region’s struggle with COVID-19, according to Orlando Regional Realtor Association. Although June sales were down 9% compared to June 2019.
On top of that OCFR responds to 350 daily calls.
Still, Isiah is glad to be part of the service.
“Call wise, it is truly different every day is different. Some days I’m helping to put out fires or I could be helping patients needing to go to the hospital,” he said.
Isiah is highly aware of the risks he faces in contracting COVID-19 from the large amount of people he works with, but his call to service compels him to keep helping, and he encourages others who feel the calling to do the same despite the risk.
“Firefighters have to overcome their fear whether it’s this or any other situation. If someone calls, we’re going to come. To the naked eye it’s scary, not just for us but for families at home. But chiefs make sure we’re as safe as possible,” Isiah said. “If you truly want this job it shouldn’t deter you. This is the time to help people who are sick and help them in any way you can provide.”
OCFR is looking to grow its ranks further with new recruits. If you’re interested visit their website.