The newest Los Angeles City Fire Department firefighters marched in straight lines as command staff and family looked on.
The 54 recruits completed the training academy and graduated Friday, Nov. 19, at Valley Recruit Training Academy 81 in Panorama City.
It took 20-weeks of rigorous training to earn the coveted badge and the honor of being an LAFD firefighter.
The academy class 2021-1 has given them skills for a career serving the public as first responders. The class consisted of 52 men and two women.
The recruits will join the more than 3,000 active LAFD firefighters and begin their assignments as probationary firefighters on Sunday, Nov. 21.
The Department has 106 fire stations located across its 469 square-mile jurisdiction.
The top recruit of the class was female Carly Wopat.
Probationary Firefighter Wopat has two other family members in the Fire Service in Southern California. For the first time, the son of a female LAFD member graduated from the Recruit Training Academy.
Probationary Firefighter/Paramedic Alexander Greer is the son of active duty Firefighter/Paramedic Christi Greer, a 32-year member of the LAFD, who currently works at Fire Station 97 on Mulholland in Studio City.
Fire Chief Ralph M. Terrazas welcomed the new firefighters and ordered them to abide by the departments core values:
–Service – Dedication to our Community
–Professionalism – Honoring the Firefighter Oath
–Integrity – Upholding moral and ethical conduct at all times
–Respect – Embracing diversity and recognizing individual worth
–Innovation – Taking creative risks to adapt and improve
–Trust – Reliance on the integrity, strength and ability of our members
Graduates threw their hats into the air after the ceremony, with recruits embracing each other and proud family members in the shadow of twin ladder trucks displaying a large American flag.