Four firefighters from the Wareham Fire Department graduated in the #59 Class of the Massachusetts Fire Academy's Call/Volunteer Recruit Firefighter Training Program on Thursday, June 23, in Fall River.

"The program is basically a crew training," said Wareham Fire Department Assistant Chief Patrick Haskell. "So, we take a person that has never been involved in the fire service and we send them to school. They learn everything from how to get their boots on to how to deal with hazardous material."

Jordan M. Elicier, Alexander S. Estes, Jessica L. Riha, Benjamin R. White were all hired to become call-firefighters for the department. They began their training in February and spent their nights and weekends earning a diploma. All four graduated and received diplomas recognizing their 240 hours of training, as well as two nationally recognized certificates.

The four will now be able to respond to emergency calls.

Haskell described the group as being very "enthusiastic" and committed to becoming involved in the community as firefighters.

The 34 graduates represented 14 fire departments.