King County Fire District 20, which covers Skyway, recently graduated 20 new volunteers from its firefighter recruit training academy. The new recruits bring the number of volunteers for King County Fire District 20 to 63. Volunteers include firefighters and support personnel.

The volunteers graduated from the academy July 12. The academy is six months of training. Volunteers learn how the fire district is organized and functions. They also learn about the behavior of fire; safety; breathing apparatus; building construction; rescue procedures; forcible entry; ventilation; hazardous materials; and other subjects.

• Graduates are: Matthew C. Briones of Seattle, Michael P. Burdick of Seattle, Tyler K. Eliason of Seattle, Bryan M. Estibal of Des Moines, Andrew E. Faehnrich of Newcastle, Ryan C. Freed of Renton, Kody K. Hayes of Issaquah, Megan L. Keyes of Seattle, Euvin Kim of Seattle, Jordan R. Lane of Kent, Michael J. Leroy of Burien, Brian C. Mace of Puyallup, Thomas R. Manship of Renton, Scott A. McLaughlin of Burien, Martin S. Slabinski of Seattle, Ivan T. Spatarov of Kirkland, Tyler J. Thompson of Des Moines, Nathan S. Till of Kent, Tory J. Tole’free of Covington and Brian J. Turgeon of Seattle.

• The following recruits were given the following awards: Most Inspirational – Matthew Briones. Most Improved – Euvin Kim. Chief’s Company – Ryan Freed, Megan Keyes, Ivan Spatarov and Tory Tole’free.

The Chief’s Company is a recognition given to those recruit firefighters who have excelled throughout the Academy. The firefighters selected for the Chief’s Company, according to tradition, are those that the Fire Chief would want as part of his crew during the worst-possible emergency scenario.