Billings! Join us in congratulating the newest Captain-Qualified members of the Billings Fire Department!
Steve Noe, Lee Weis, Levi Bogunovich, Taig O’Donnell, Ole Hedstrom, and Peter Sulser recently completed the four-week-long Officer Development Program.
When a fire crew arrives at the scene of an incident, it’s easy to spot the captain because they’re riding in the front passenger seat.
It’s their job to make decisions and direct their crew, so you’ll see them on the radio sharing information with dispatchers, and incoming Fire/EMS units.
The Billings Fire Department has a total of 30 full-time captains.
These six plus an additional 8 are Hi-C Captains (Hi-C meaning Higher Classification), and step into the role of captain when they’re needed. They’ll become full-fledged captains when a position opens, usually due to a retirement in the department.
When they’re not called to an emergency, Captains oversee that everything runs smoothly at the fire station, assist with training/public education and facilitate their crew’s needs.
Each of the new Hi-C captains went through comprehensive training, including a day of hands-on scenarios which included a three-vehicle crash, a gas leak, structure fire, wildland fire, and others.
Captains also do an initial assessment of a fire scene so they can share that information when Deputy Fire Marshals arrive to investigate.
See what the department does to get them prepared for that portion of training here: https://youtu.be/6BlM2UvO3rk
Congratulations and thank you to our newest Hi-C captains of Billings Fire Department!
Original source can be found here.
