Glendale, Burbank fire departments salute new recruits

Photo Gallery: Glendale and Burbank fire cadets graduate as firefighters

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Firefigher cadets enter for graduation ceremonies at the Glendale and Burbank Fire Department’s graduation of the Class of 2015 Firefighter Recruit Academy at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center in Burbank on Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Graduating firefighter cadet Matthew Miller smiles during a presentation at the Glendale and Burbank Fire Department’s graduation of the Class of 2015 Firefighter Recruit Academy at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center in Burbank on Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Cutouts of the face of fire cadet Anthony Carrillo are held up by family members at the Glendale and Burbank Fire Department’s graduation of the Class of 2015 Firefighter Recruit Academy at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center in Burbank on Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Judy Gonzalez, the mother of graduating cadet Tyler Gonzalez, helps him pin his Burbank firefighter badge on his chest at the Glendale and Burbank Fire Department’s graduation of the Class of 2015 Firefighter Recruit Academy at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center in Burbank on Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Newly badged Glendale fireman Anthony Carrillo shakes hands with Glendale Fire Captain Jeffrey Ragusa at the Glendale and Burbank Fire Department’s graduation of the Class of 2015 Firefighter Recruit Academy at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center in Burbank on Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Firefighter badges for Burbank and Glendale to later be pinned onto the chests of the newest cadets at the Glendale and Burbank Fire Department’s graduation of the Class of 2015 Firefighter Recruit Academy at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center in Burbank on Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Graduating firefighter cadets stand in front of the crowd at the Glendale and Burbank Fire Department’s graduation of the Class of 2015 Firefighter Recruit Academy at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center in Burbank on Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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A very full house at the Glendale and Burbank Fire Department’s graduation of the Class of 2015 Firefighter Recruit Academy at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center in Burbank on Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Gledale Fire Captain Jeff Ragusa speaks to the graduating firefighter cadets at the Glendale and Burbank Fire Department’s graduation of the Class of 2015 Firefighter Recruit Academy at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center in Burbank on Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Burbank and Glendale battalion chiefs Jeff Howe and Tom Propst at the Glendale and Burbank Fire Department’s graduation of the Class of 2015 Firefighter Recruit Academy at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center in Burbank on Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Burbank Battalion Chief Jeff Howe, after commenting on highly polished shoes, talks with the graduating firefigher cadets at the Glendale and Burbank Fire Department’s graduation of the Class of 2015 Firefighter Recruit Academy at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center in Burbank on Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Graduating firefighter cadets salute the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance at the Glendale and Burbank Fire Department’s graduation of the Class of 2015 Firefighter Recruit Academy at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center in Burbank on Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Graduating cadet Tyler Gonzalez shakes hands with Glendale Battalion Chief Tom Propst after being badged a Burbank firefighter at the Glendale and Burbank Fire Department’s graduation of the Class of 2015 Firefighter Recruit Academy at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center in Burbank on Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Burbank Mayor Bob Frutos, Burbank City Manager Mark Scott, Glendale Council Member Vartan Gharpetian, and Glendale City Manager Scott Ochoa laugh during the ceremony at the Glendale and Burbank Fire Department’s graduation of the Class of 2015 Firefighter Recruit Academy at the Burbank Fire Department Training Center in Burbank on Thursday, May 7, 2015. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

By Alene Tchekmedyian, <i><a href=”mailto:alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com”>alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com</a></i>

May 8, 2015 11:18 AM PT

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Seventeen new firefighters — including Burbank’s second-ever female recruit — are set to join the Burbank and Glendale fire departments after completing an extensive 15-week joint academy.

Dozens of family members and friends gathered at the Fire Training Center in Burbank on Thursday for the joint graduation ceremony, which featured live demonstrations including a vehicle extrication by the new recruits.

PHOTOS: Fire cadet graduation ceremony

“You’ve been pressed and stretched to the edges of your comfort limits and boundaries,” Glendale Battalion Chief Tom Propst told the recruits. “Now, you’ve been bonded into the fire family.”

Among the recruits was Jennifer Hoffman, who will serve as the second female firefighter in Burbank’s history.

She was influenced by her grandmother, who worked as a dispatcher for their local police department in West Virginia, where Hoffman grew up.

But it was a fire demonstration in grade school, during which she was taught what to do in the event of a blaze, that really piqued her interest in the fire service.

The academy, she said, “was probably the most challenging, hardest, exciting, awesome — at the same time — things I’ve ever done,” she said.

Even so, she felt like she was going through grade school all over again — in 15 weeks.

“Every day was a struggle for me,” she said.

During the ceremony, instructors and veterans of the department imparted wisdom to the new recruits from years in the fire service.

“Successful firefighters don’t have time to be complacent,” said Burbank Fire Chief Tom Lenahan. “They’re learning every day.”

Glendale Fire Chief Greg Fish told recruits to remember the energy and fervor they were filled with on their graduation day.

“Think about that 10 years from now, on the third call after midnight,” Fish said. “Slackers will not be tolerated.”

Glendale’s hiring process began a year ago when 3,000 people applied to take the firefighter exam. From those applicants, two classes completed the academy, with Thursday’s group being the second graduating class.

“It’s an extremely competitive process,” Propst said. “These are eight of the very top.”

Meanwhile, roughly 2,000 people took the exam administered by the Burbank agency in the last couple of years, 200 of whom were interviewed for the nine spots.