Hammond Mayor Thomas M. McDermott, Jr. welcomes twelve new firefighters to the Hammond Fire Department today during a swearing-in ceremony at the Hammond Sportsplex. Mayor McDermott and Fire Chief Jeffrey Smith recited the “Oath of Office” and issued the recruits their fire department badges.
Eight of the twelve firefighters have previous experience coming from various Fire Departments in Whiting, East Chicago, Hobart, Schererville, and Memphis Tennessee. They range in age from 25 to 31 years of age.
In order to become a Hammond firefighter, the candidates go through a rigorous training and testing process from agility, psychological, physical, background, and voice analysis just to name a few. All Hammond firefighters must have Emergency Medical Training.
The new probationary firefighters are Alexander Belligio, David Bultema, Philip Espinosa, Eduardo Galaviz, Omar Gonzalez, Johnathan Preston, Jack Pufahl, Jacob Rehm, Scott Robinson, Jaclyn Seberger, Ryan Tuuk, and Arsenio Wright.
“It is my pleasure to welcome the new firefighters to our team”, stated Mayor McDermott. “I know they will serve the City of Hammond with pride.”