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More than 150 men and one woman formally joined the ranks of the FDNY Monday.
Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta presided over a graduation ceremony for the probationary firefighters at Queens College this morning. The so-called “probies” went through a 12-week training program at the Fire Academy.
This graduating class of 170 pushes up the number of firefighters hired since 9/11 to almost 2,100. The class includes 12 firefighters who returned from active military duty, including Michael Vincitore, who has already put his life on the line in Iraq.
“This is a little more mental - the Army is a lot more physical,” said Vincitore. “But this has its physical aspects as well."
“It’s something he’s set out to do from the time he was five,” said Michael Vincitore, the probie’s father. “Go in the Army and then be a fireman - that’s what he wanted to do.”
The class valedictorian, Firefighter Thomas Gies, lost his father, Lieutenant Ronnie Gies of Squad Company 28, on 9/11. Two other graduating firefighters also lost brothers that day.
“It was a tough loss, but it just gave me the motivation to work twice as hard to be the best,” said Gies. “But everybody here deserves as much credit. All 170 of us got through it - it was tough. Since I knew what a fire truck was and what my father did for a living, I wanted to be a New York City fireman, so I went to college for it. My entire life that's all what I wanted to do."
"It's a bittersweet day,” said Daniel Riches, who lost his brother James of Engine 4. “It's great, and I’m proud to be graduating, but at the same time you always thought it would be something you'd be celebrating with your brother. But you know they're here in spirit with us."
The class of 2004 still faces much more training ahead, especially with anti-terrorism activities: "Recognizing radioactive objects, using RAD alerts - equipment we have that will detect radioactivity - and then bring in the specialists if we need it," said Scoppetta.
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