Nineteen area volunteer fire companies added 47 newly trained firefighters to their rosters when they completed a rigorous six-month, 194-hour course and received their certificates of completion June 25 at the Lower Macungie Community Center.

The firefighters completed the fourth annual Bucks County Fire Academy course offered every Sunday and Wednesday at the Allentown Fire Department Fire Academy at Mack Station, 1902 Lehigh St., near Queen City Airport.

The local course was initiated in 2011 by Lower Macungie Fire Chief Dave Nosal, in cooperation with the Bucks County Fire Academy, so volunteer training could be in Lehigh County, rather than having to travel out-of-county twice a week.

Training includes live-burn training, testing on several Saturdays, and 112 hours of firefighting, life-saving and first aid skills.

Firefighter 1 course also teaches volunteers how to recognize, evaluate and deal with hazardous materials incidents.

Haz-Mat training covers events as small as an antifreeze spill at an accident, to incidents as intimidating as weapons of mass destruction.

Lead instructor for the training was Justin Delong, a state-certified fire educator, as well as deputy chief of the Emmaus Fire Department. Troy Raab, of Coopersburg, also was a certified instructor for the volunteers.

Nosal said the course includes: building construction, basic interior firefighting, fire behavior, forcible entry, personal safety equipment, self-contained breathing apparatus, ropes and knots, search and rescue, vehicle and wildland fires, hazardous materials and structural live burn sessions.

Certification earned by the 47 candidates is portable, and those who complete the course are entered into a national database, which most states recognize for fire departments in their jurisdiction.

Candidates included firefighters from Alburtis, Catasauqua, Cetronia, Eastern Salisbury, Emerald, Emmaus, Germansville, Greenawalds, Han-Le-Co, Lower Macungie, New Tripoli, Schnecksville, Topton, Trexlertown, Tri-Clover, Upper Macungie, Upper Saucon, Western Salisbury and Whitehall.