Two new reserves and one new volunteer have been added to the roster for the Escalon Fire Department, officially starting their orientation.

Fire Chief Rick Mello said the new reserves are fire academy graduates, while the new volunteer did not attend the academy but is ready and eager to learn all the skills required.

“Right now they are training on drill nights,” Mello noted. ‘For the fire academy graduates, it is more of a skills refresher, verify their skills and get them orientated to our ways. For the volunteer, he will learn everything from safety issues all the way up to the skills with breathing apparatus, ladders, auto extrication.”

Volunteers must live within the boundaries of the Escalon Consolidated Fire Protection District while reserves live outside the fire district borders.

“We require everyone to put in 48 hours per month,” the chief added.

The hours can be broken up though some choose to do it all at once and, said Mello, many work more hours than are required. They are paid per shift.

The new reserves are Jordan Kron and Zack Tamburrino; the new volunteer is Elijah Sherington-Lester.

Mello said the nice thing about having reserves that went through the academy is that they can also help with the training and orientation for the volunteers that don’t have the academy background.

“Hopefully we get them all in by the end of summer,” Mello said of completing the training and working the new department personnel into the rotation. “They have been here for their gear issue; some were planning to do National Night Out.”

The fire department training is also staged several times a month, typically running the first Tuesday, second Wednesday and third Thursday, starting at 6:30 p.m.

“That spreads it across the shifts,” Mello said of having the training on different days each week.

Several different sites are also utilized, based on what activities will be featured in the training.

“It depends on the topic,” explained Mello, with some training at the main station on Coley Avenue, Station 2 on Highway 120 near Van Allen Elementary School and sometimes at the training site on Clough.