Mount Vernon Swears In 8 New Firefighters

From Mount Vernon City Hall

Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard swore in 8 probationary firefighters. They will train for 15 weeks at the Career Fire Academy in the fall. This will be the first class to train at the Career Fire Academy since 2015.

Due to financial constraints, the last two classes were trained in-house; Mount Vernon is one of the only municipalities to conduct in-house training.

The FDMV Recruit Training Program curriculum that was utilized in their interdepartmental academy has been adopted by New York fire departments throughout the state looking to conduct training within their Departments, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commissioner Debra Norman said “We are very excited and grateful that Mayor Patterson-Howard has hired these new recruits to attend the Career Fire Academy. The FDMV has been resilient in providing the services our city needs in spite of COVID-19, and a shortage of about 20 Firefighters due to attrition and line of duty injuries.”

Deputy Chief Kim Odindo said “We are proud and humbled to have finally been able to hire our new Fire Recruits. We look forward to their successful completion of the Fire training program. The Mount Vernon Fire Department thanks the Patterson-Howard administration and all CMV Departments that facilitated this tremendous opportunity.”