On Friday, February 21, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department will graduate the 2013 Fire Class. This graduation ceremony will take place at the Doermann Theatre on the main campus of the University of Toledo.
Forty-seven recruits will be graduating during this ceremony and will be starting their rookie rotations at various stations throughout the city of Toledo.
This class was sworn in on September 3, 2013 and has completed a rigorous training program that involved numerous phases of firefighting, rescue, and related subject matter. This training also included live fire training burns and related hands-on exercises.
This graduating class will honor their classmate, James Dickman, who died in the line of duty with Stephen Machcinski on January 26, 2014, during this graduation ceremony.
James Dickman was part of a group in this class that previously earned their E.M.T. certification. This group was released to the line for full firefighting duty following the completion of firefighting training. This graduation unites all of the recruits to graduate in one formal ceremony.