23 Graduate from Fire Recruit School

Cherokee County welcomed 23 new firefighters who graduated from recuit school during a ceremony Feb. 10 at .

The evening began with an invocation by Fire Chaplain Dana McPherson followed by the presentation of colors by the Cherokee County Fire Honor Guard and the singing of the National Anthem by Raquel Bustos. Sam Heaton, fire chief with , was the key-note speaker for the evening.

Tim Prather and Assistant Fire Chief Eddie Robinson congratulated the new recruits and welcomed them to Cherokee County. 

Before the presentation of the certificates of completion, several of the recruits received special awards.

The recipient of the Pinnacle Award for striving to "reach the top" due to dedication and hard-work in the Firefighter Recruit School Class was presented to Nick Durham.

The W. Clark Waters' Jr. Honor Graduate Award was presented to Joel Sciranko. The award was named on behalf of Clark Waters, a Cherokee County firefighter, who passed away in 2004. Roberts was given the award in recognition of excellence in academics and leadership.

 The following recruits received their certificates of completion:

• Casey Cannon
• Joshua Capes
• Todd Chadwick
• Tyler Davidson
• Nick Durham
• Adam Elrod
• Kevin Fox
• Kevin Hanson
• Doug Hocker
• Thomas Howes
• Kristhian Kosiba
• Destiny Labossiere
• Terrell Long
• John Montague
• Joshua Nealey
• James Passmore
• Cesar Saavedra
• Paul Sansone
• Joel Sciranko
• Daniel Thatcher
• Scott Tipton
• Josh Warren
• Cody Wilson

After receiving their certificates, the graduates received the firefighter oath from Prather. Training Instructors Lt. Wesley Densmore, Sgt. Scott Deal and Sgt. Matthew Richter also offered comments at the end of the ceremony.

Children from the Boys and Girls Club, firefighters and deputies were on hand to greet the flag on its arrival to Cherokee County.