County to Graduate 27 New Firefighters in Latest Class

By: D. Frank Smith

The Anne Arundel County Fire Department's latest recruits will formally graduate at a ceremony scheduled for Friday evening.

The 50th recruit class includes 27 new firefighters hailing from across the region, from Pennsylvania to New York.

The class underwent a 12-week course of accelerated fire, rescue and medical training. Starting Saturday, they will begin working at the county's 31 fire stations.

Keynote speaker for Friday's graduation will be Retired Chief Harvey Eisner, the current editor-in-chief of Firehouse Magazine. Eisner was the fire chief of the Tenafly, NJ fire department. He is also an honorary chief of the Fire Department of New York.

The following are the new recruits of the fire department, scheduled to graduate Friday:

• Chad Angelini—Sudlersville, MD
• Andrew Athens—Ellicott City, MD
• Joshua Aument—Mechanicsburg, PA
• James Bambary, III—Greensboro, MD
• Patrick Clark—Annapolis, MD
• Mathew Coll—Bel Air, MD
• Brandon Collier —Aberdeen, MD
• Jeremy Davis—Centreville, MD
• Robert Davis—Cambridge, MD
• Timothy Deklau—Crofton, MD
• Jerry Fokas, Jr.—Annapolis, MD
• Andrew Franklin—Reisterstown, MD
• Francesco Giglio—Ashburn, VA
• William Herskowitz—Ephrata, PA
• Michael Hillmann—Leonardtown, MD
• Charles Keeney—Union Bridge, MD
• Mathew Kora—Laurel, MD
• Donald McAtee—Harrisburg, PA
• Daniel McLaren—Pasadena, MD
• Ryan McManus—York, PA
• Anthony Morisi—Baltimore, MD
• Christopher Pahl—Elkridge, MD
• Matthew Portka—Apollo, PA
• Patrick Shoop, Jr—Lewistown, PA
• Austin Smith—Aberdeen, MD
• Casey Snider—Fairport, NY
• Vincent Wright, Jr—Severn, MD