Whidbey Island fire deparments welcomed 11 new firefighters Friday evening at a fire academy graduation ceremony at Coupeville High School, according to a press release.

The Whidbey Island Fire Academy is a joint effort between North Whidbey Fire and Rescue, Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue and South Whidbey Fire and EMS. Recruit firefighters must complete 280 hours learning firefighting and rescue skills during 55 sessions. Then they must pass eight separate Washington state certification exams before they are qualified as firefighters.

“The collaboration in the academy between the three districts ensures that the recruit firefighters receive quality training to national standards, as well as being a great value to the taxpayer since the costs of the training are shared between the three fire agencies,” Geiger said.

Firefighters completing the five-month fire academy were Bradley Stevens, Ranger Buck, Joe Eggert, Maggie Fink, Korbin Gailey, Tyler Hargrave, Greg Hustead, Morgan Ratcliff, Brian Sanderson, Stephen Stavros and Morgan Stevens.