After more than 200 hours of training in everything from hazardous materials to blazing fires, recruits from the Wareham, Onset, and Marion fire departments are officially firefighters.

Five recruits from Wareham Fire finished training in a state program that required classroom instruction, physical fitness training, firefighter skills training, and live firefighting practice. Those recruits are now state certified, on-call firefighters for the department.

"They are a good group of guys," said Assistant Wareham Fire Chief Patrick Haskell. "They came together."

The five recruits were strangers before deciding to join the fire department

"It's about being a part of something and helping out the town," said new firefighter Thomas Harrigan.

Matt Varrieur echoed that sentiment and said his cousin, a firefighter, inspired him to join.

"I've always had a respect for the profession," he said.

Tyler Crabb, a member of the Wareham High class of 2013, worked for the Wareham Fire as part of the school's "school to career" program in 2012 and then became a recruit. He is off to Anna Marie College in Paxton to pursue a fire science degree in the fall.

"Over the summer," Crabb said, he wants to "get as much training as possible."

Elsewhere in town, Onset Fire teamed with Marion Fire for a months-long training course, which prepared the firefighters for every situation they might encounter. The firefighters are now part of their respective departments' on-call staff and will soon take state certification exams.

The departments held a joint graduation ceremony in Onset on Friday, June 28.

"You will be able to achieve greatness through service," Colon Wright, pastor of the Emmanuel Assembly of God in Onset told the new firefighters. "Trust your training and it will service you well."

A total of 13 recruits joined Onset Fire, while six jointed Marion Fire.

"You're part of a larger family," Onset Chief Howard Andersen told the graduates. Remember, he told them: "You work for the taxpayers. ... When they call you at 3:00 in the morning, they want you to come to do your job."

Andersen said with a laugh: "It may only be a lockout. Yeah, we do get cats out of trees," but he noted, "it builds public relations."

Marion Fire Chief Tom Joyce told the group: "Work hard, work harder, work hardest. Because someone's life may depend on it."

And Onset Fire Captain Raymond Goodwin, who led the joint training effort, had a salient piece of advice for the new firefighters: "You have to be one unit, one Fire Department, one company. You did that," he said, but noted: "You stop training the day you retire."