Graduating students from class 138 of the EC Fire Academy gathered together with friends and family to celebrate a major stepping stone in their firefighting careers at the EC Fire Academy in Inglewood on April 11.

“Being part of the team was most valuable to me, the brotherhood and camaraderie. We all came to know each other at the academy,” Nicholas Hart, 22, fire technology major, and academy graduate of class 138, said.

Students said they found a sense of value from being part of this group.

“I joined because I want to become a firefighter,” Hart said. “I am going to get EMT experience, a volunteer job, do a resident program, and take classes. Everything is just done in baby steps.”

Despite the prospects of years of hard work ahead, students were more than ready to graduate and celebrate their accomplishments with their families and guests.

“Today we are looking forward to having a good time with our families who came to see us graduate,” Hart said.

The graduation consisted of a traditional ceremony that was followed by demonstrations of the skills that students had acquired during their training.

“We have 31 students graduating today, which is a very typical class size,” Deborah Zavala, program assistant and buyer of emergency technology, said. “We are going to have the ceremony first, give out the certificates and then have a break. Then we will have a demonstration,” she said.

Part of the demonstration included showing important, historical items in the field of firefighting and emergency service work.

“We’re going to have a speaker from the Culver City Fire Department who will show us the fire engine that got damaged in New York on 9/11,”Bill Melendez, chief of the EC Fire Academy, said, “The fire engine got restored and inside the rig there are items that they preserved,” he said.

Despite the concluding tone of the graduation, constant growth and development is the main focus in this line of work rather than arrival at any particular goal.

“Progressing is the most important thing. We always like to make progress. We never stop learning,” Ryan Lauzon, senior mentor of the EC Fire Academy, said.

Pedro Montero, senior mentor of the EC Fire Academy, echoed this sentiment.

“This is one of the building blocks. It is just a small step. Just because we have this doesn’t mean we’re done,” he said. “People came here to challenge themselves in a new area.”

“It can takes anywhere from six months to six years to get hired on a fire department,” he added.

After the academy, students piece together their experience in the field in order to build their resume and prepare themselves for joining a fire department.

“It takes time. I’m not going to give up. I have gotten this far. You keep testing yourself,” Aaron Hayre, recent graduate of the EC Fire Academy and a new mentor, said. “I became an EMT for four years and an explorer with L.A. City for one year. In a resident program, you live at the fire station on a 24 hour shift for at least three days a month and you go on calls with them. It’s a stepping stone.”

Another stepping stone is to become a mentor to the following academy classes, which many students will be doing after they graduate.

“Half of the students sign up to become mentors for the next class,” Melendez said, “I’m glad to see that. It’s a key factor in continuing with their education.”