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When the Lord was creating Firefighters, he was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared and said, "You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one." The Lord said, "Have you read the specification on this person? Firefighters have to be able to go for hours fighting fires or tending to a person that the usual every day person would never touch, while putting in the back of their mind the circumstances. They have to be able to move at a second's notice and not think twice of what they are about to do, no matter what danger. They have to be in top physical condition at all times, running on half-eaten meals, and they must have six pairs of hands." The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way." "It's not the hands that are causing me problems, ” said the Lord, "it's the three pairs of eyes a Firefighter has to have." "That's on the standard model?" asked the angel. The Lord nodded, "One pair that sees through the fire and where they and their fellow Firefighters should fight the fire next. A second pair here in the side of the head to see their fellow Firefighters and keep them safe and another pair of eyes in the front so that they can look for the victims caught in the fires that need their help." "Lord," said the angel, touching his sleeve, "rest and work on this tomorrow." "I can't," said the Lord, "I already have a model that can carry a 250 pound man down a flight of stairs and to safety from a burning building, and can feed a family of five on a civil service paycheck." The angel circled the model of the Firefighter very slowly, "Can it think?" "You bet," said the Lord. "It can tell you the elements of a hundred fires; and can recite procedures in their sleep that are needed to care for a person until they reach the hospital. And all the while they have to keep their wits about themselves. This Firefighter also has phenomenal personal control. They can deal with a scene full of pain and hurt, coaxing a child's mother into letting go of the child so that they can care for the child in need. And still they rarely get the recognition for a job well done from anybody, other than from fellow Firefighters." Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek of the Firefighter. "There's a leak," she pronounced. "Lord, it's a tear." "What's the tear for?" asked the angel. "It's a tear from bottled-up emotions for fallen comrades. A tear for commitment to that funny piece of cloth called the American Flag. It's a tear for all the pain and suffering they have encountered. And it's a tear for their commitment to caring for and saving lives of their fellow man!" "What a wonderful feature Lord, you're a genius" said the angel. ---PAGE BREAK--- The Lord looked somber and said "I didn't put it there." Cortland County Department of Fire/Emergency Management Firefighter Boot Camp IV Graduation November 30, 2010 1900 hr. ---PAGE BREAK--- www.cortlandcountyfire.org The Firefighter Boot Camp IV graduates have dedicated 150 hours towards the successful completion of the following courses: Firefighter I SCBA Confidence Truck Company Operations Firefighter Survival Courage to be Safe Calling the Mayday- National Fire Academy ICS-100 LPG Awareness- NYS Propane Association NG Awareness- NYSEG AHA CPR-D Instructors: NYS Fire Instructor Brian Pendell NYS Fire Instructor Kevin Whitney NYS Fire Instructor Mahlon Irish NYS Fire Instructor Erik Verfuss NYS Fire Instructor Jeff Dygert NYS Fire Instructor Thomas Warner NYS Fire Instructor Thomas Basher NYS Fire Instructor Thomas Smith NYS Fire Instructor David Denniston NYS Fire Instructor Ken Roe NYS Fire Instructor Duane Pierce Cortland County Instructor Chief Wayne Friedman Cortland County Instructor Captain Thomas Casterline Cortland County Instructor Colleen Price Cortland County Instructor Captain Scott Buchanan Cortland County Instructor Captain Carl Grantham NYS Propane Association John F. Pitman NYSEG Douglas Stafford ---PAGE BREAK--- AHA Instructor DFC Douglas VanEtten Special thanks to: Ben Savichky, Joseph Steinhoff Jr., Rick Reddick, Richard Petrucco, Tom Monroe, Mike Niehus, Mora Harris, Ernie Newel, Steve Potter, Matt Kinney, Murray Kinney, Jeff Griswold , E&V Energy and the Cortlandville, Homer, Virgil, Preble Fire Departments, City of Cortland Fire Department along with the Cortlandville Fire District for their unselfish support and commitment to the Firefighter Boot Camp program. Firefighter Boot Camp IV Graduates Training Certificates Presented By Chief Thomas Wutz Killawog 04019 : Coty Ellerson Cortland 12002 : Pavel Andronshuck Steven Bishop Brandon Casterline Marathon12006 : Deron Johnson Preble 12008: Christopher Hulbert Dereck Sisson Jason Stevens Truxton 12009: Mallory Wells Virgil 12010: Alec Cole Cortlandville 12013: Dustin Randall ---PAGE BREAK--- Alaric Saufly Cicero 34008: Kristen Smith (Cortlandville Mutual Aid Member) Dryden 55005: Louisa Cushman The aforementioned graduates bring the total number of Firefigh ter Boot Camp graduates to Fifty-four (54) since the inception of the program in 2008.