TROY, NY - On September 1st, at the Franklin Terrace ballroom in the city of Troy, 17 brand new firefighters came together with their families and friends to take their oath to protect and serve the residents of the city of Troy. Apparatus from the Troy Fire Department with on-duty members pulled up in front of the ballroom and firefighters from numerous engine companies and the rescue squad piled into the room to see all of the new firefighters get sworn in.

The 17 new firefighters took their seats in the front row by the stage, all of them eager to begin their career. Four Troy firefighters also would be receiving promotions to their new ranks. As the room was called to order, fellow firefighters from the Troy Fire Department, on duty and off duty, filled in the seats behind the new recruits. This symbolized that as new firefighters coming into the job, the senior members of the department will have the backs of the individuals proceeding forward with one of the best jobs on earth. The city of Troy‘s mayor opened up the speech by welcoming all of the city's representatives and New York State representatives that were in the room.

The mayor highlighted how the Troy Fire Department was able to obtain and utilize a $772,800 assistance to firefighters grant for paramedic training to send all of the recruits to school at Hudson Valley Community College for their paramedic program. The mayor also talked about how the city of Troy worked with Dr. Roger A. Ramsammy, the president of Hudson Valley Community College, to be able to move all of the current Troy firefighters into one class and reduce the number of hours to get the new recruits out onto the streets quicker to be able to serve the residents of the city of Troy. Additionally, the city of Troy Fire Department's Battalion Chief, Kevin Kilgallon, worked diligently on securing two grants that were needed to make the large hiring possible. Battalion Chief Kevin Kilgallon received $3,688,160 for a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER Grant). 

The firefighters that were hired to serve and protect the city of Troy came from numerous walks of life and from numerous fire departments around the capital region as it showed with several fire chiefs from multiple departments in the audience showing support for their firefighters that have moved on to a professional career.

The following firefighters joined the ranks of the Troy Fire Department: Codie Lane, Christopher Lane, Samuel Sleurs, Jack Commerford, Alden Mitola, Christopher Arnold, Joshua Helenek, Matthew Fusco, Codi Genthner, Nycholas Styer, Nicholas Clute, Cody Carpenter, Ryan Tubbs, Nick Brown, Collin Ward, Robert Gapp-Meher, and William Juliano.

Prior to the swearing in ceremony of the new firefighters, four current firefighters received promotions: Jeff Ward from Lieutenant to Captain, Mike DeForge from Lieutenant to Captain, Patrick Kuhn from firefighter to Lieutenant, and Noah Cipperly from firefighter to Lieutenant. Each officer had their family come on stage with them and were given their new badge and sworn in.

It was then finally time to swear in the second largest hiring of firefighters since 1988 in the city's history. In 1988, 18 firefighters were sworn into duty in the City of Troy. Since then, numerous firefighters from that large swearing in have retired and very few have remained on the job. The mayor of the city of Troy had the large group of firefighters stand up, hold up their right hand and the mayor read off the oath of office for the duties as firefighters, each firefighter swearing to take the oath to protect and serve the residents of the city of Troy. After the swearing in ceremony portion was completed, each firefighter was called up on stage to be pinned by their family members with their badge. One by one, each firefighter was pinned with their badge and shook the hand of the mayor and Chief McMahon. At the end of the pinning ceremony, the mayor gave a few words of wisdom followed by the city of Troy‘s fire chief.

After the ceremony was complete, a large group photo was taken of the newly sworn in Troy firefighters and after that a large group photo of the newly sworn in firefighters and the current members that were present. The Troy NY Firefighters IAFF Local 86 union paid for lunch for all of the families and guests that attended the swearing in ceremony. With the new firefighters being sworn in, they will immediately begin their fire academy on September 5, 2023, and they will be utilizing the brand new, state-of-the-art Rensselaer County municipal training center that was made possible by Steve McLaughlin, the Rensselaer County Executive. This will be the first ever Troy firefighter's academy class to be done in Rensselaer County.