A busy week for the Cayman Islands Fire Service (CIFS) ended on a celebratory note as 21 new recruits were formally welcomed to the team as fully-fledged fire fighters.

            A graduation ceremony was held on Friday, 31^st January 2020 and included a fire and rescue demonstration by the new fire fighters.

            “The past week has emphasised to us all that we have a fire service we can be extremely proud of,” commented the Minister for Home Affairs, Hon. Tara Rivers, JP.

            “Everyone graduating today answered the call to serve and through their commitment and dedication are one step closer to becoming members of our country’s world-class public safety response mechanism,” she continued.

            The graduation comes after 20 weeks of intensive fire and rescue training led by Acting Training and Safety Manager, Mr. John Christian. The training covered proficiencies in both domestic and aerodrome disciplines, which is essential given the duel function of Central and Cayman Brac Stations. It also allows the officers to later specialise their careers in a specific discipline.

            The recruits were taught the theoretical side of fire science and given practical live fire experience, equipping them with skills to tackle incidents from day one as fire fighters.

            “I am incredibly proud to welcome our newest fire officers to the service today. They have shown great dedication and perseverance with their training. Their training, of course, will never fully be over as we are constantly reinforcing and enhancing our skills in fire and rescue. Myself and the rest of the Deputy Chief Fire Officers look forward to continuing to develop our newest officers as they begin their careers with the Cayman Islands Fire Service,” commented Chief Fire Officer, Mr. Paul Walker, QFSM.     

Nine of the new fire officers will be permanently based on Cayman Brac to bolster CIFS’ capacity across the Sister Islands.

            “Having an additional 21 fire officers available to deploy strengthens our fire and rescue capability and will put less strain on our resources should we have another busy week as we have had recently,” Mr. Walker continued.

His Excellency, the Governor, Mr. Martyn Roper; Deputy Governor, Hon. Franz Manderson; Minister for Home Affairs, Hon. Tara Rivers and Chief Fire Officer, Mr. Paul Walker QFSM were all in attendance at the graduation and received an impressive march pass from the graduates. 

            All 21 fire recruits are Caymanian and were offered their positions in July 2019 before training formally began. CIFS will shortly begin conducting a further recruitment drive, which they are hoping will result in an additional 20 fire officers joining the service later this year.

            Members of the public wishing to apply to become a fire officer should visit the Government recruitment website atwww.recruitment.gov.ky where the vacancy will be posted in the coming month.