The Warwick Fire Department for the first time in about 30 years celebrated on Saturday morning the graduation of a class of 12 cadets who completed the Warwick Fire Explorers program.
The 12 cadets ranged in age from 14 to 21 and began the classes in October of 2017, going through three meetings and classes each month from October to May engaging in many of the same kinds of skills tests and educational classes undertaken by firefighters.
“They get a little taste of everything we do and kind of gives them an intro of what they have to do and how to get started,” said Corey White, a five-year veteran of the department and the leader of this group of fire cadets.
White said the cadets do everything from learning about CPR and EMS exercises, special operations training and performing the same physical fitness test performed by firefighters to graduate from the fire academy and become fully-fledged firefighters.