Lakeland Fire Department Welcomes Thirteen New Firefighters

From Lakeland Fire Department: The Lakeland Fire Department (LFD) is pleased to announce the hiring of thirteen new firefighters that will begin duty on Monday, February6, 2017. The new hires are filling vacancies from recent retirements of longtime LFD veterans and openings left as a result of internal promotions.The new firefighters will begin with the department's month-long orientation program at the Lakeland Fire Department's Training Center located at 901Granada Street. Although all the new hires are certified firefighters, this training course is designed to teach the new firefighters how to do things the"Lakeland" way. They review a full spectrum of practical skills they need to perform on the job as well as emergency medical training before being released into the field."Our hiring committee is confident that it selected the best available candidates and it's comforting to know that the new firefighters joining our ranks are highly skilled and qualified to continue providing the high quality emergency services our department is known for." said Training Chief John Almskog, coordinator of the hiring effort and leader of the department's four-week orientation program.LFD strives to have a fire department that is representative of the community it serves.

The department is proud that of the thirteen new hires, five areU.S. Military veterans. Additionally, the group of new firefighters includes a female, Hispanic, and African American firefighter, respectively. The group of new firefighters even includes a former NFL football player.Of the new hires, one is already certified as a paramedic while the others areEmergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). A majority of the new hires hail from central Florida and are graduates of area fire academies like the Ridge CareerCenter Fire Academy and Hillsborough Community College Fire Academy.The new hires bring the department to a total of 171 personnel whom, last year alone, responded to nearly 24,500 call for service.For more information, interview requests with department representatives,filming at the training site, etc. please contact Janel Vasallo.

Photo Courtesy of Lakeland Fire Dept.