Eight new Petal firefighters are headed to the Mississippi State Fire Academy thanks, in part, to a $1 million grant received last year from the Federal Emergecny Management Agency (FEMA).
The grant allowed Petal officials to hire nine firefighters in all.
Total cost to send the other eight firefighters to the academy in Pearl is approximately $4,000, or $500 per firefighter.
“I think we hired them back in December or January, and this is the first chance we’ve had to send them to the academy,” Mayor Hal Marx said. “There’s only so many spots open each year, so we schedule them as soon as possible to get them there.
“Our firemen have been working with them on the training they’re going to go through at the academy to make sure that they can pass the physical standards. They’re doing a lot of in-house training to get them prepared for the fire academy, so we feel confident that they’re all going to do well up there.”
Firefighters William Bullock, Daniel Pepper, Chris Shows and Tamario Weathersby started the academy on Aug. 6 and will attend until Sept. 27. Brandon Farris and Timothy Herbert will attend from Oct. 1-nov. 15, while Corwyn Corley and Alexander Lininger will attend from Oct. 22-Dec. 13.
“It’s unusual for us to have this many to go at one time,” Marx said “Usually in the past, we may have hired one or two people a year who needed to go to the academy, so having eight is a change for us.
“But we’re trying to benefit from that grant and get better fire protection to our citizens.”
Marx is hopeful the new group of firefighters will help the city improve its fire rating from its current Class 5 to a Class 4.
“We’re really close to being a 4, which is the same rating that Hattiesburg has, so we want to get that as soon as our firefighters return from the academy,” he said. “That’ll help our citizens and our businesses on their fire insurance costs, and I think it’s going to put us as one of the best fire ratings in the state. I don’t think many cities and towns have better than a 4 in Mississippi, so we’ll be right up there at the top with that rating. So we’re very excited at the possibilities for that, and we don’t have any doubt that our firefighters will make it through the academy and come out with flying colors.”
