White Plains, NY - More than 100 firefighters from 40 volunteer fire departments in Westchester were honored at a graduation ceremony Wednesday night at the Department of Emergency Services in Valhalla.

County Executive Robert P. Astorino and Acting Commissioner John M. Cullen of the Department of Emergency Services congratulated the graduates for successfully completing the rigorous Firefighter I and Firefighter Survival training and thanked them for their service to their communities.

“Obviously it takes a great deal of special knowledge to be a firefighter,” Astorino told the graduates. “More importantly, it takes a special kind of person: the kind of person who puts his neighbors and community first; the kind of person who puts himself or herself in harm’s way to save life and property.”

He praised the volunteers for their willingness to “answer the call to service at all hours of the day or night, in the worst kinds of weather, in the face of any kind of danger.”

The 104 firefighters are graduates of six separate Firefighter I classes conducted in the past year at the fire training facility at DES.

“The Firefighter I class is an 87-hour program that is the foundation and pre-requisite for all additional fire training that a volunteer firefighter will receive. It introduces the recruit to firefighting concepts, practices and techniques necessary for success in the fire service,” Cullen said.

In addition to the Firefighter I class, all the recruits also completed a 9-hour Firefighter Survival course.

Topics covered in Firefighter I training include firefighter safety, fire behavior, personal protective equipment, self-contained breathing apparatus, building searches, forcible entry, ventilation, building construction, ropes/knots, rescue procedures, forcible entry, hazardous materials, weapons of mass destruction, confined space safety and fire prevention practices.

Astorino thanked the fire training staff at DES for outstanding work and said the fire training program was an excellent example of a shared service between the county and fire departments.

“The county plays a key role in coordinating fire training in cooperation with local fire departments and in maintaining a top-notch training program.  I am grateful as well to the instructors from multiple fire departments who contributed their talents and expertise,” he said.