New Firefighters Join Noble Brotherhood

A noble dozen.

That's the number of firefighters who recently completed the Joint Fire Academy (JFA) and have now joined the fire departments in Mountain View, Palo Alto and San Mateo. The JFA this year took place in Mountain View, but rotates with each new class of recruits. This collaboration between the three cities helps not only build camaraderie between the recruits, but also creates more efficiency as it can be expensive for each city to train their own.

"This is a representation of how different cities across counties come together to share resources," said Mountain View Mayor Mike Kasperzak at the Friday, June 29 event at . He wished them a "safe and long career in fire service."

But before the ceremony continued, outgoing San Mateo Fire Chief Dan Belville received a standing ovation for his 35 years of service. Belville retired and took his last ride on a fire engine that day. He reminded the firefighters to maintain their character and integrity since "local government were under extreme scrutiny" financially speaking and especially because "there weren't too many professions where you can walk into people's home in the middle of the night."

At the ceremony many analogies described the rigourous 13-week training program the 12 recruits had just completed under the watchful instruction of brass Captain Ted Vandenberg, Captain Bill Walls, Battalion Chief Steve Hawkes, Captain Vern Chestnut, and many others.

For example, several of the recruits had been tasked to restore a worn down axe—one of the most important tools for firefighting—back to usefulness. So just like "iron sharpens iron ... one man sharpens another," was repeated several times about the training objective to raise how sharp these new firefighters needed to be for the job.

"You are now fit for duty," said Capt. Vandenberg after the inspection of the axes concluded.

Part of the recruits training included learning about the history of firefighting, about the various tools and how to maintain them; about fire extinguishers and hazardous materials like gas; and how to conduct search and rescue.

But of course "we got to burn a lot of things," said Tim Houweling, one of the new MVFD firefighters, chosen as the class speaker. He added how they were still just "proficient beginners."

And like the previous speakers, Houweling emphasized the bond that had formed between them. He shared how they each now carried a photo of the family of another recruit to remember that their job was about everyone's families.

"Becoming a firefighter is a significant task," said Mountain View City Manager Dan Rich about the mental and physical requirements of the job. But he added that there was more to the job. "You are joining a team, a family ... you are touching the lives of people everyday and are an ambassador of your own organization."

The event concluded with ceremonial pinning of the badge on the firefighter's lapel and their swearing in by Mountain View City Clerk Lorrie Brewer.

The JFA 2012 Recruit Graduates:

• Mountain View Firefighter Steve Desipio
• Mountain View Firefighter Brian Hagerty
• Mountain View Firefighter-Paramedic Tim Houweling
• Palo Alto Firefighter-Paramedic David Dahl
• Palo Alto Firefighter-Paramedic Carlos Garcia
• Palo Alto Firefighter-Paramedic Alex Hermann
• Palo Alto Firefighter-Paramedic Eban Johnson
• Palo Alto Firefighter-Paramedic Adam King
• Palo Alto Firefighter-Paramedic Javier Olazaba
• Palo Alto Firefighter-Paramedic Kyle Salisbury
• San Mateo Firefighter Angelo Santiago
• San Mateo Firefighter Matt Van Orden