SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - It's the first time since the coronavirus pandemic started that an in-person graduation ceremony has been held at the Western Massachusetts fire academy.
The ceremony at the Department of Fire Services' Springfield Campus honored the career recruit firefighter training class #S23. The 21 graduates are going to 10 different fire departments. All of these new firefighters had to go through the 10-week academy.
Stephen Hupfer is going to work with the Chicopee Fire Department. He says the academy wasn't easy, but it was well worth it to get to this point. Growing up in Chicopee, this is something Hupfer says he has been waiting for a long time.
"Pretty much my whole life," Hupfer said. "It was a really glorified job, it seemed like. Helping your community, being someone that was respected in your community, being able to help people in your community. It seemed like a great job overall."
Out of the 21 recruits who graduated, 6 of them are joining the Chicopee Fire Department.
The graduates are as followed:
Amherst Fire Department
- Matthew Chipman
Chicopee Fire Department
- Stephen Hupfer
- Mason Labonte
- Benjamin Lawlor
- Shawn Miller
- Jonathan Pasternak
- James Sydorak
East Longmeadow Fire Department
- Matthew Adams
- Gianna Driscoll
- Chase Reisbig
Gardner Fire Department
- Daniel Quinn
Holyoke Fire Department
- Joseph Sanabria
Monson Fire Department
- Thomas Joyce
Northampton Fire Department
- Jonathan Bousquet
- Tristan Krause
- Nicholas Noto
Ware Fire Department
- Thomas Berninger
- Merissa Titus
Westborough Fire Department
- Steven Carey
- Ethan Glass
Westfield Fire Department
- Leon Morin