THE CNMI Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services will soon conduct fire academy training.
“Were looking to have a total of 36 new recruits, including cadets from Rota and Tinian,” DFEMS Commissioner Dennis Mendiola said.
He said the Tinian and Rota cadets have been waiting to join the 13th cycle fire academy since March 2020 when it was canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mendiola said DFEMS is also working with Northern Marianas College to revisit the memorandum of understanding between the fire department and the educational institution, which provides training to firefighters.
Mendiola said the fire department personnel are currently spread too thin.
“Our personnel are frontliners — we are part of the Covid-19 Task Force and we have to also respond to other emergencies,” he added.
Mendiola said the fire academy may start at the end of May or in early June.
“We are still on the planning stage,” he added. “The fire academy will run four to five months.”
“We have already submitted the openings to the Office of Personnel Management so it can announce the vacancies/positions, and we have already informed the Department of Labor-Workforce Investment Agency about cadet positions.”
As for the nine firefighters who were recently terminated for refusing to get the Covid-19 vaccine, Mendiola said: “I cannot replace them yet because they are entitled to due process; they still have 30 days to file an appeal or grievance.”
He added, “There is an appeals process and when that is finalized with OPM, then we can start looking at replacing them. But for now, the fire academy is to fill the manpower shortage due to the Covid-19 pandemic response.”
Vehicle on fire
In related news, the fire department responded to a vehicle on fire on Tun Joaquin Doi Road by Cool Laundry in Finasisu at 4:58 a.m. on April 17, 2021.
DFEMS public information officer Robert Mojica said Engine 1 and Rescue 1 arrived at the location at 5:10 a.m., and Firefighter III Robert Camacho used a 1 ½-inch hose to extinguish the fire that had engulfed the sedan, Mojica said.
Firefighter III Lorenzo Deleon Guerrero, a Division of Fire Prevention and Arson investigator, said the incident “is still under investigation and more information will be announced accordingly.”
Dennis Mendiola
