Grand Island Fire Department recruits march to city hall on last day of training
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. -- The three newest Grand Island Fire Department recruits are leaving their mark after blazing through extreme winter weather to commemorate their last day of training.
“The weather, of course, it always has a vote right, and it had a vote and snowed and made it a little bit more difficult, but as firefighters we have to get through difficult situations anyway, so we went ahead and did it and it turned out to be really great and had a lot of fun doing it,” Kelvin Kreitman said.
“I was excited it was it was good,” Isaiah Hawley said. "It was a little cold on my face like my nostrils, but that was about it. That bunker gear is pretty warm, so I stayed warm."
After eight weeks of intense physical and mental training, Danny Trevino, Kreitman and Hawley commemorated the milestone with a march in full firefighter turnout gear from Fire Station #1 to city hall.
“It was great, it was great, it was cold you know, we understand that we’re gonna be in stressful conditions,” Trevino said. "So, I mean this is just a good example of what we’re what we’re gonna go through."
The three newest recruits walked about a mile and a half carrying a U.S. flag to city hall, where they were greeted by the mayor, city administrator and fire chief.
Chief Corey Schmidt said it was great seeing the culmination of their efforts.
“To me it was very visual, that people could come out and see their firefighters, and it's just very symbolic and also just to me it was very moving,” Schmidt said. "It was a great experience to see our people finish that phase of training and to be marched down the road carrying the flag so I was very proud of it."
When they arrived at city hall, they gave the mayor a memento to symbolize that they promise to put the needs of others above their own.
The fire department is considering making this a tradition for new recruits. The chief said they are three firefighters short of full staff and are looking for more candidates.