FDNY welcomes nearly 300 new recruits at graduation ceremony
NEW YORK - A graduation ceremony in East New York, Brooklyn on Wednesday welcomed nearly 300 probationary firefighters to the FDNY.
The "probies" spent 18 weeks training in all aspects of fire fighting, including suppression, medical response, and the handling of hazardous materials.
When welcoming the graduates to the FDNY family, Commissioner Laura Kavanagh reminded them safety is always first.
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"Everything you do every day, every drill that you will do when you enter the firehouse, it is all to make that very, very important decision in the few seconds you will have to make it and it will be the thing that saves your life, the life of your fellow members or the life of a fellow citizen," Kavanagh said.
This is one of the most diverse FDNY graduating classes, with over 50 percent of the class being people of color.
According to the FDNY, 30% of the class identifies as Hispanic/Latino, 15% as Black, 3% as Asian American, and 1.5% as Native American.
Among the graduating class was 29-year-old Amber Villegas, one of 10 women who graduated.
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"I think it's an honor to join the many brave and fearless women that have paved the way for all of us and I look forward to doing the same for our future women," Villegas said.
The reasons for wanting to join the FDNY are deeply personal for some of the probes, like Jerome Nedd, who lost his father on 9/11.
"It was a decision for me because firefighters went into that building to try and get him out, and those brave heroes that died in that building, I wanted to be like one of them," Nedd said.
The probies are joining a brotherhood more than 10,000 members strong, becoming the latest members of "New York's Bravest."
"People's worst day is our busy day, and getting them home safe to their loved ones is what makes this job worth while," said Patrick Williamson, one of the graduates and one of 34 veterans in the graduating class.