27 recruits from Firefighter Class 217 are set to graduate this week from the Mississippi State Fire Academy after completing an intensive seven-week training program.
The ceremony will take place on Thursday at 10 a.m. in the academy’s auditorium in Jackson. The event is open to the public.
The graduates completed the National Fire Protection Association 1001 Firefighter I-II course, which combines classroom, online, and hands-on instruction in areas such as fire behavior, fire suppression, rescue, hazardous materials, and incident command. The course exceeds NFPA qualification standards as well as Mississippi’s statutory minimum training requirements.
The academy, a division of the Mississippi Insurance Department, is led by State Fire Marshal Mike Chaney and Executive Director Kelly Elliott.
“We are confident the immediate impact and positive difference these firefighters will make, not only within their departments but also in their communities, will truly be substantial,” Elliott said.
The full list of graduates is as follows:
- Kobe Barnes (Southaven Fire Department)
- Anthony L. Bean (Tupelo Fire Department)
- Kevin Hayden Bock (West Point Fire Department)
- Jaxon Brewer (Pearl Fire Department)
- Tyler Childers (Corinth Fire Department)
- Freddieus Ferguson (Greenwood Fire Department)
- Joshua Hanley (Flowood Fire Department)
- Mikeveon Hawkins (Greenwood Fire Department)
- Christopher Hillhouse (Batesville Fire Department)
- Alexys Kelso (Natchez Fire Department)
- Joshua Kennedy (Pearl Fire Department)
- Dylan Kippes (Long Beach Fire Department)
- Javier Landry (Jackson Fire Department)
- Cole McDaniel (Gluckstadt Fire Department)
- Timothy Morrow (Clinton Fire Department)
- Jonathan Newton (Southaven Fire Department)
- Landen Pagart (Reservoir Fire Department)
- Tanner K. Parker (Senatobia Fire Department)
- Onias Parks (Gluckstadt Fire Department)
- Guy Roberson (Tupelo Fire Department)
- Mason Isaiah Russell (Senatobia Fire Department)
- Gage Ross Smith (Senatobia Fire Department)
- Samuel Starita (Long Beach Fire Department)
- Jackson Wade Swales (Brandon Fire Department)
- William Brittain Wharton (Flowood Fire Department)
- Joel Wilkinson (Tupelo Fire Department)
- William Wright (Long Beach Fire Department)
