TOWER— Six new Tower firefighters received their certificates of completion of their Firefighter I and II training on Monday, helping to put the department back on track following a rash of resignations earlier this year.
The group of young firefighters, including Shawn Gawboy, Jordan Purkat, Steve Olson, Jesse Hinkel, Mandy Northrup, and Victoria Ranua, signed up in March and have undergone extensive training over the past several months, culminating in final testing completed last week. The Firefighter I and II training covers a broad range of skills that the firefighters need to be effective on the job. The training includes both classroom learning and hands-on experience.
Eric Makowski, of Central Lakes College, who led the group’s training, presented their certificates during Monday’s meeting of the Tower City Council. He said the group had demonstrated remarkable enthusiasm and dedication. “They definitely met the standard,” he said. “They’re doing really, really well.”
Makowski credited new fire chief Paige Olson with pushing to get the new members qualified as soon as possible. The six new members of the department have been highly responsive over the last few months to emergency calls. In several incidents, the Tower firefighters have provided the majority of the responders and have been actively involved in assisting with firefighting activities.
“Kudos to all of you for the work you’ve done to accomplish this,” said Mayor Orlyn Kringstad.