Some fresh new faces have joined the Lethbridge Fire Department.
A number of new recruits were sworn in by Chief Brian Cornforth late in November. Lethbridge Fire and EMS
(LFD) welcomed 17 new recruits, which is the largest recruitment for the department in nearly 35 years. Including the newest additions, the LFD now has a total of 156 members to serve Lethbridge and surrounding areas.
At only 20 years old, Brent Tradewell was the youngest hire out of the group. Tradewell said, “It’s been awesome… Training wise and getting to know the ins-and-outs. Everyone’s been very helpful.”
Tradwell added that all recruits are required to be an EMT or paramedic before joining the department. In his case, he will be completing his final year of schooling to become a paramedic while at work. Tradewell will also continue training to become a firefighter during his time with the the LFD.
All of the recruits were hired on September 17 and had to undergo several weeks of training to learn LFD protocol before joining the department family.
Mike Humphrey and Chris Fahey, both firefighter/paramedics, said they are very excited to get to teach. “Here at the LFD, we have a very in-depth mentor ship program. It’s great to go through that and teach the new guys what you know,” Humphrey added.
