Valley Fire District Recruits Begin Work

Sat., May 13, 2000

Work starts this weekend for 10 Valley Fire District recruits.

A week after graduating from the Spokane Regional Fire Recruit Training Academy, the newest crew members will start their rotations at the fire stations today.

Since graduating May 5, the 10 Valley recruits have learned additional skills, such as rappelling, and have been given a crash course in the routines at the fire stations, said training instructor Lt. Bruce Hamner.

The recruits are on probation for one year after being hired.

To become firefighters, they had to pass a rigorous interview process and were chosen from a pool of more than 600 applicants.

“They have a lot of desire and they want to be here,” Hamner said.

The 10 Valley recruits are: John Shippe, Thomas Cook, Sean Barrett, Ryan VanWey, Greg Bennett, Richard Bruce, Jason LaJiness, Richard Llewellyn, John Kelleher and Darrin Coldiron.

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