The Lakeland Fire Department (LFD) is pleased to announce the hiring of seven new firefighters and one firefighter intern: Shelly Boyer, Hai Ha, Christopher Clark, Kevin Thompson, Isaac Pacanins, Jacob Klingensmith, Brandon Chaves, and Hercules Betts.
Orientation began on Monday, May 3, 2021. The new hires are filling vacancies from recent retirements and openings created as a result of internal promotions. The new firefighters began the department’s month-long orientation program at the new LFD Training Center that opened earlier this year on January 4th.
All of the new hires are certified firefighters; however, the firefighters will experience the month-long orientation program to learn how to do things the “Lakeland” way.
During the orientation, they review a full spectrum of practical skills they need to perform on the job, as well as emergency medical training before being released into the field.
The new hires bring the department to a total of 179 personnel whom, last year alone responded to over 26,000 service calls.