Fire Academy 2021 Class Sworn In

A class of 27 cadets have made it through our six-month long fire academy to become the newest members of the Chattanooga Fire Department! These firefighters are the future of our agency and we are very proud of them. The class was sworn in Thursday by Judge Russell Bean at the Chattanooga Fire & Police Training Center. They have successfully completed Emergency Medical Responder training and learned about all of the different aspects of the fire service, including how to fight different types of fire. They’ve also mastered a number of other skills like hazardous materials operations, vehicle extrication, rope rescues, tactical ventilation, Rapid Intervention Techniques (saving a fellow downed or injured firefighter) and Fire Ground Survival (saving themselves from a fire if they become trapped or disoriented).

This fire academy class is a diverse group, made up of men and women who are eager to serve and protect the citizens of Chattanooga. There are a number of military veterans and reservists in this group. Lee Harper, the class president, served in the Navy and completed two deployments on a destroyer. He’s currently a hospital corpsman in the Navy Reserves. Clayton Kessler is an infantry squad leader in the Tennessee National Guard. He played Division 1 and Division 2 football and then enlisted in the military, deploying overseas. Christopher Finley is a Sergeant in an armored cavalry regiment in the Tennessee National Guard. Nikolas Banks is a combat medic in the Tennessee National Guard. Davis Derkach is a rifleman in the Marine Corps Reserves. Justin Stringfellow is an Army veteran, having served as a tanker and completing a deployment to Iraq. Jordan Zink served in the Army as an infantry squad leader and in the Tennessee National Guard as team leader for an infantry unit. We appreciate their past and current service to our great nation!

Another cadet, John Hileman, has an interesting backstory. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service for several years, fighting wildfires out West. He worked on different types of crews, including hand crews, engines and helicopters, protecting property, residents and wildlife. He decided to transition from a career in wildland firefighting to a department job and chose the CFD.

Zachary Walker is from upstate New York and specifically moved to Tennessee to join the Chattanooga Fire Department. The son of an Oneida, NY firefighter, he knew he wanted the same career as his father and when he saw that the CFD was hiring, he applied and moved across the country to begin our fire academy. For Zachary and his fiancée, it was the right decision and they’re extremely happy to be living in the Chattanooga area.

Congratulations to the entire class and welcome to the CFD!