Five people received their Firefighter I Certification during the ceremony for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office Volunteer Wildland Fire Academy graduation this week. The Academy began on March 5, and in total, Cadets finished the Academy with over 325 hours of training. Some of the required education included: emergency shelter deployment drafting from fire apparatus radio protocol basic medical triage wildland fire tool maintenance engine operation field training at the South Meridian burn scar.You can find the full list of required training on the Sheriff's website. Sheriff Joseph Roybal's full statement can be found below: I am excited to welcome these five highly trained citizens to the El Paso County Sheriffs Office Wildland Fire Unit and the Wildland Fire community." Education and mitigation play a crucial role in wildfire prevention, and the addition of these newly certified volunteers will enable our Wildland Fire Unit to expand their efforts in keeping our community safe. El Paso County is a community severely affected by wildfires. We have faced the Waldo Canyon and Black Forest Fires. Both caused loss of life and property beyond what any of us could have imagined." To this day, we have visual reminders and hear about the devastation caused by these firesa true testament to the importance of fire mitigation, prevention, and education." I thank my staff, particularly our Wildland Fire Unit, for their work organizing and executing a top-notch Academy for our cadets.nbsp;Congratulationsnbsp;to the graduates, and thank you for stepping up and volunteering to become part of our diverse and dedicated volunteer team.Congratulations to all of the graduates!____Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching. ...read more read less