The Central Oregon Coast Training Officer’s Association (COCTOA) Fire Academy, concluded nearly six months of training with a graduation ceremony held at North Lincoln Fire and Rescue’s, St. Clair Station & Training Facility in Lincoln City, last night (February 28th). Over a hundred friends and relatives came to the event to honor and take pride in the efforts put forth to achieve this goal. Each recruit received their certificates and badges; their badge lovingly pinned on their uniform by a relative, spouse or close friend.
This training program brought the Departments and Districts under one format, promoting consistent response to emergencies in Lincoln county. The time these recruit’s spent together did more than create trained firefighters, it built friendships and relationships between agencies county-wide. The fourteen recruits represented five agencies: Depoe Bay Fire, Central Coast Fire, Newport Fire, North Lincoln Fire and Toledo Fire. They will be joining their respective districts or departments ranks to strengthen their communities fire defense today, March 1st, 2019.
Division Chief Jamie Mason presented Recruit Firefighter, Peter Pimentel of Toledo Fire Department the Top Recruit Award. This award is voted on by his peers in the academy. The recruits trained and received Oregon State certifications for Firefighter I, Hazardous Materials Operations, and Wildland Firefighting. In addition, students had the opportunity to gain real time experience responding with instructors on a student engine based out of the St. Clair Station.
If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter, please contact Division Chief Mason (NLF&R) by calling 541-996-2233 or your local Fire agency. Another county-wide COCTOA Academy is planned to start early this Fall 2019.
Information and photos provided by Jim Kusz NLFR
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