16 Cadets Graduate from Fire Academy

The Las Cruces Fire Department graduated 16 cadets from its 38^th Fire Academy on Friday.

The commencement ceremony was held at the Rio Grande Theatre in Downtown Las Cruces.

Fire cadets who graduated are Jacob Arellano, Jacob Baldwin, Rebekah Butler, Patrick Cardon, Alejandro Carrillo, Jacob Casillas, Henry Gardner, Samuel Grant, Brian Korn, Jazmin Martinez, Trent Mims, Juan Ortiz Villa, Charles Ray, Leah Schnell, Shane Sowers and Melvin Villegas.

Beginning June 29, the graduates who already have their EMT-Basic License will be assigned to one of eight fire stations for emergency response. The remaining cadets will complete another eight weeks of EMT-Basic training before they are licensed.

The Fire Academy provides 640 hours of field training and classroom instruction over a span of 16 weeks. During the academy, cadets received training in firefighting techniques, hazardous materials, vehicle extrication, technical rescue and fire inspection.