PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Fire District No. 2 has seven new volunteer firefighter/EMTs after the new recruits were sworn in during a badge-pinning ceremony earlier this month.
Board Secretary Heather Catuzo administered their oath of office while fire district commissioners, friends and family looked on at a fire commissioners meeting May 15.
New firefighters include Robert Anderson, Paul Howard, Rashaya Donnel, Fred Way, Mya DeLano, Sam Orr and Blake Mann, according to a new release.
The new firefighters all have varying levels of qualifications. Four of the recruits completed 12 weeks of training as firefighters in April, where they learned about fire streams, fire attack, search and rescue, safety, ropes and knots, ground ladders, incident management, forcible entry, loss control ventilation and other topics.
During the training, three recruits stood out among their peers.
Way, a retired U.S. Forest Service supervisor, was awarded the Company Officer award for organizing the students and taking care of them as a group.
Anderson, a former Marine, was awarded the Bulldog Award for his leadership, persistence and unwavering dedication.
DeLano received the Most Inspirational award for her consistently positive attitude and her tenacity.
Way and Howard went immediately into the Emergency Medical Technician course at Peninsula College for thee months of medical coursework and expect to graduate in June.
Orr and Mann have been with the fire district for several months and both serve as resident firefighters at Port Ludlow Fire and Rescue.
Donnell joined the fire district in recent weeks after transferring from Clallam County Fire District No. 4 in Joyce. She has been assigned to the Gales Addition station along with Howard, Mann and Orr. Way, DeLano and Anderson will work out of the Dry Creek fire station.
The district has a goal of having 60 paid-on-call firefighters, also known as volunteer firefighters. The fire district currently has 47 volunteers and 13 openings for new candidates.
________
Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsula dailynews.com.
