RAMAPO - There are only two times when a fire
instructor smiles, former Nyack Fire Chief Frank Jewett, a state
fire instructor, told more than 300 people last night at the
Fire Training Center: greeting a new class of aspiring
firefighters and at their graduation ceremony.
So it was no surprise to see grins on just about everyone who
packed the auditorium for the January graduation of new
volunteer firefighters, whether it was proud parents and
siblings or soon-to-be comrades.
In all, 95 new firefighters - 92 from Rockland and one each from
Westchester County, Orange County and the Bronx - paraded into
the auditorium to the skirling of bagpipes played by the
Rockland County Firefighters Pipes and Drum.
After a few words from Gordon Wren Jr., the county's fire
coordinator, and with firefighter Fred Ill III, whose father, a
New York City firefighter, died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks,
congratulating them on their effort and praising their spirit,
they received their certification.
"My nephew is graduating, and I'm so proud of
him," said Donna Hutmacher of Sloatsburg, who was there to see
Brandon Bates, 14. Bates was acknowledged for completing the new
20-hour Youth Academy program of the Rockland Fire Training
Center.
"I told my son if he wanted to become a firefighter, he has to
go to school and learn," said Brandon's mother, Laurel Bates, a
member of the Spring Valley firefighters auxiliary. "And he did
it."
Shane Jennings and Paige DiFrancesco, both 25, were there to
cheer on the newest crop of Spring Valley firefighters. Jennings
graduated as a Spring Valley firefighter last year, he said,
recalling how happy he was to be welcomed into the firefighting
family.
Among those smiling the biggest were the Arterburns - father
Donald, mother Ginger, daughter Nicole and 16-year-old twins
Donald and Travis.
The Arterburns have been firefighters for generations, the elder
Donald Arterburn said. His father served in the Nyack and Pearl
River fire departments, and his stepfather also is a
firefighter.
Donald Arterburn is a former Pearl River fire chief and Nicole
Arterburn, 19, joined the Pearl River Fire Department in 2005,
graduating from fire school in 2006.
"We grew up in the firehouse," Nicole Arterburn said. "I was
always intrigued, and it seemed natural" to become a
firefighter.
Graduating last night were the twin Arterburn teens, who earned
the right to fight blazes alongside their father and sister by
putting in more than 72 hours of training.
"It was kind of a given," Travis Arterburn said about going into
firefighting, noting his family's experience. His brother nodded
as he spoke.
The two walked into the fire company in the spring to get their
applications, much to the delight of their father.
"I followed in my father's footsteps," the elder Donald
Arterburn said. "It's part of what I am. But I don't believe in
pushing anybody. I didn't steer any of them to it."
Ginger Arterburn, the only civilian in her house, said the
hardest part of living with her family members was trying to get
them to talk about something at the dinner table other than
firefighting.
"My husband and I have been married for a long time. I have a
lot of faith," she said. "I have faith in God. I have faith in
the fact they're all trained the way they should be trained, and
the people with them keep an eye on them.
"You always have a little bit of fear as a mother and a wife,"
she said. "But I have a lot of faith that they know what they
are doing."
Click the PLAY
button to start the video. To pause at any time click pause.
