After spending much of the last year as a reserve firefighter for the Escalon Fire Department, Gerardo Preciado has been hired as a fulltime firefighter, filling a vacancy on the "A" shift and bringing the department up to its full complement of paid staff.
The Turlock resident devoted much of his time in recent months to the department, working several 24-hour shifts a week, although the reserve schedule required him to just put in 36 hours a week.
"I chose to do three 24-hour shifts a week," Preciado said. "It gave me the opportunity to work with all three shifts, all personnel. They taught me a lot of different ways to do the skills I learned in the academy, it helped expand my knowledge."
Each of the three shifts, A, B and C, has a battalion chief and two firefighters on duty. Randy Reid is the A shift battalion chief with Preciado and Moe Silva as the firefighters. B shift battalion chief is Terry Pinheiro with firefighters Cassidy Bohannon and Mike Rebensdorf and Joe Pelot heads up the C shift with firefighters Matt Herrero and Ryan Burr.
The Turlock resident devoted much of his time in recent months to the department, working several 24-hour shifts a week, although the reserve schedule required him to just put in 36 hours a week.
"I chose to do three 24-hour shifts a week," Preciado said. "It gave me the opportunity to work with all three shifts, all personnel. They taught me a lot of different ways to do the skills I learned in the academy, it helped expand my knowledge."
Each of the three shifts, A, B and C, has a battalion chief and two firefighters on duty. Randy Reid is the A shift battalion chief with Preciado and Moe Silva as the firefighters. B shift battalion chief is Terry Pinheiro with firefighters Cassidy Bohannon and Mike Rebensdorf and Joe Pelot heads up the C shift with firefighters Matt Herrero and Ryan Burr.