A pledge to fight fires in a remote land
Navajo Nation Academy graduates 8 firefighters

Navajo Nation Fire Department recruit Jeffery Morgan shakes hands with Edmund Yazzie, Vice-chair of the Public Safety Committee and representative of Thoreau Chapter, at a graduation ceremony held to recognize new Navajo Nation fire fighters Wednesday morning in Window Rock, Ariz. Morgan received an award for his leadership during training. [Photo by Daniel Zollinger/Independent]

By Karen Francis
Staff writer

WINDOW ROCK — Eight people became the third graduating class of the Navajo Nation Recruit Firefighter’s Academy Wednesday at the Navajo Nation Museum.
The eight graduates were presented with certificates of completion and badges, which were pinned on by their family members during a graduation ceremony attended by nearly 200 people.

The recruits endured 14 weeks of physical and mental training and testing to learn the skills necessary for firefighters on the vast Navajo reservation.

Chief Larry Marcum, from the San Juan County, N.M., Fire Department, said that the recruits learned in 14 weeks what usually takes five years. Video of the students in class showed them putting out vehicle fires, carrying heavy equipment, rappelling down ropes and utilizing specialized equipment on top of roofs.

Students had to be at class in formation by 5 a.m. three times a week.

After physical training that included running and lifting weights came the “fun stuff,” said Nathan Guy, one of the graduates. The fun stuff included putting on firefighter gear and going into the field for training in simulated situations.

“That’s where the learning starts,” he said.
The curriculum was designed specifically for Navajo, Fire Department Chief Larry Chee said.

Chief Chee said that in the early days of the department, volunteers were recruited and given on-the-job training. However, the department soon realized that the volunteers required more training and officials began designing the curriculum. Because the Navajo Nation is so unique, the department had to research many laws and regulations to adhere to local, state and federal standards.

Part of the goals with the curriculum, which was approved by Northern Pioneer College, is to reduce response time and risk of injury, especially because the communities that the Navajo Nation serves are so remote.

With only six fire stations and a yearly budget of $900,000, the Navajo Nation Fire Department must be resourceful when it comes to protecting Navajo land. For example, the department used in-house instructor assistants at the academy to teach the recruits. Lt. John Williams, Lt. Ronald Singer, and Lt. Travis Becenti helped Captain Jacob Brock in providing the necessary training.

“We’re dependent on ourselves to teach our own recruits,” Chee said.

Hope MacDonald LoneTree, the chair of the Public Safety Committee, commended the chief and the department for not relying on the tribe or the federal government and bringing forth an innovative solution.

“I’m just really proud they were able to put together a top-notch academy,” she said.

To be resourceful, the fire department also relies heavily on volunteers who do not get paid for their service.

Geraldine Williams of Oak Springs, one of the graduates, has been a volunteer firefighter in Window Rock for eight years. Her desire to serve the public appears to be a family trait. Her son is Lt. Williams, one of the assistant instructors for the academy.

It was Williams who got her son to consider fire fighting for a career. She was already a volunteer when he came out of the Marine Corps and needed a job. She encouraged him to look into becoming a firefighter.

“I was inspired by what they do,” she said.

“You have to have heart to do it,” Williams continued. She added that the academy was a lot of hard work but it was a good accomplishment for her.

“I just love being a firefighter. It’s the coolest thing,” she said.

Evander Leonard, 19, said he was influenced to be a firefighter since he was a young boy living in Tucson. He would hear the fire trucks and wonder what they were doing.

Leonard began working on his goal to become a firefighter six years ago when he started volunteering as part of the Explorer youth program at the Ganado Fire Department. He is now employed there full-time and working on getting nationally registered within the next few months.

“I’m happy I graduated,” he said. “Only one year ago I graduated from high school and now here I am.”

Leonard said the most exciting part of being a firefighter is being a part of a close-knit organization.

“It’s a big family,” he said.

For Guy, helping the community was his No. 1 reason for completing the rigorous academy. He has been a volunteer trainee for two years at the Ganado Fire Department.

“I always wanted to be a firefighter,” he said. While living in Phoenix, Guy would listen for the sirens and soon he was able to distinguish the different types of sirens.

“I used to want to go to where they were going,” he said.

After returning to the reservation in 2005, one of his friends got him involved with the volunteer fire team and Guy “fell in love with it.” Now he volunteers at the Ganado fire station every day.

“I just like being at the fire station,” he said. “I always wanted to sit in the fire truck, drive the fire truck. Now I have that opportunity.”

Chee said that the academy has now graduated a total of 28 recruits and “each one has improved services to the community.”

However, he said even with quality volunteers, the fire department continues to lack the proper resources and manpower it needs to serve an area the size of the Navajo reservation, which is comparable in size to the state of West Virginia.

Within the six fire districts of the Navajo Nation, there is only one paid firefighter per station working with 10-15 volunteers. Chee said that for an area the size of the reservation with the number of people, the actual need is for hundreds of volunteers and more paid workers.

“We need the support of the community and Navajo Nation to get to where we want to be,” Chee said.

“We are a young organization and we have a long ways to go to be where we should be,” he said.

Graduating on Wednesday were Shoanyah Halwood of Fort Defiance, Guy of Ganado, Cameron Lewis of Ganado, Leonard of Klagetoh, Jeffrey Morgan of Window Rock, Aaren Snake of Window Rock, Williams of Oak Springs and Felix Yazzie of Tsaile.