Two Westport Volunteer Firefighters, Jason Abbott and Stacey Hutchison, graduated on Sunday, July 13, from the Tri County Firefighter Academy One and Two Programs at a ceremony conducted at the Orion Performing Arts Center in Topsham. Abbott also earned top honors as class valedictorian and delivered the class address at the graduation ceremonies.

Graduates represented 11 departments from Yarmouth to Westport Island and west. They completed classroom work and practical exercises encompassing firefighting resources and equipment; survival; live fire events; search and rescue; incident command and hazardous materials. The program concluded with state written and practical exams.

Abbott and Hutchison, who both have full-time jobs and families, committed over 300 hours on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, as well as long Saturdays, for almost six months to fulfill the requirements to become state certified firefighters for Westport Island. Westport’s Fire Department, like many local departments, is an unpaid all-volunteer team of first responders for medical, fire and Hazmat incidents.

On behalf of his classmates, Abbott asked, “Why did we put ourselves through this?”

“I believe it’s because we are all here with one basic goal: to help people, whether its people in our own hometown, or its helping people while we’re working for some full-time department somewhere,” he said. “Our goal is to help people in some of their greatest times of need. We have all heard this call, and we have all answered.”