CA Fire Fighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee

When firefighter David Wills received his pink slip from Alameda Fire Department in June, he was added to the Displaced Firefighters List. Two weeks later, on his termination date, he received a call from Moraga-Orinda Fire District, letting him know they were hiring. The very next day, he went for an oral interview and a paramedics skills assessment. The day after that, he received a conditional job offer from Moraga-Orinda.

Firefighters scaled ladders in a vacant Valencia parking lot Monday morning - practice for rarely used but critical rescue operations. The batallion hosts different training sessions each month to keep the firefighter's skills sharp, said fire Capt. Gabriel Etcheverry.

Firefighters and first responders up and down the state have been training for terrorism incidents since the CFFJAC rolled out its new Terrorism Consequence Management (TCM) Train-the-Trainer course earlier this year. Three course dates have already been held in Sacramento, LA County and Riverside County, and eight more classes have been scheduled through the end of the year. More dates continue to be added.

Sacramento County ROP fire tech students spent the last year learning what it takes to be a firefighter. Last week, they met for their final class, which gave their families and friends a chance to see the students in action.

Long Beach firefighters and lifeguards torched a 35-foot boat off the coast of Long Beach. It was a chance for firefighters and lifeguards to train in real-world conditions just in time for the summer boating season. Long Beach is one of more than 100 departments affiliated with California Fire Fighters Joint Apprenticeship Committee.

The California Fire Fighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee (CFFJAC) has announced its June dates for Terrorism Consequence Management (TCM) Train-the-Trainer courses.

Recognize the symptoms of a heart attack and call 9-1-1 as early as possible. This was the message that Contra Costa Fire Captain and CFFJAC Women's Commissioner Lisa Beaty brought home to the crowd of over 400 women that gathered at the annual American Heart Association's Go Red for Women Luncheon in Sacramento.

For CFFJAC Women's Commissioner d'Lisa Davies, the chance to participate in the Soroptimist International of Riverside's event was a dream opportunity to show middle school girls that firefighting is a career option for them.

When the going gets tough, the tough choose firefighting. Nearly 1,000 young men and women did, packing the 2009 Firefighter Recruitment Fairs at the Candidate Physical Ability Testing (CPAT) Centers in Sacramento, Livermore and Orange.