The Callahan volunteer fire chief gave an update to the Callahan Town Council on the completion of the Firefighter 1 certification course Monday night.
Chris Wood became chief of the Callahan Volunteer Fire Department in August 2024. A requirement by the town for Wood’s position was to obtain the Firefighter 1 certification. This course teaches entry-level firefighters to demonstrate fundamental skills, including the use of equipment and basic firefighting techniques. The town gave Wood a year to complete the class.
Now, over a year later, Wood said, “There’s been some glitches with it.”
“We didn’t have an instructor to sign off on what they call skills sheets, modules that we have to have,” he said. “Each module has to have a sign-off. So, we’ve been going through trying to find people to sign off.”
Wood said that the volunteer fire department reached out to the county to try to find someone to sign off on the modules.
“First we got a yes, then we got a no, then a maybe, then they said absolutely not, because they didn’t have enough instructors. So, therefore, I reached back out to the fire side (the state).”
Eventually, Wood was put in contact with instructor Richard Knoff, who will now be able to sign off on the modules.
“He’s also bringing two more instructors with him from my understanding, that are gonna do our actual training, whether it’s gonna be at our station or somewhere else, but they are dedicated to our station only now,” Wood said.
He expects the certification course to be completed no later than March 1. The instruction for the certification is coming through the Florida State Fire College in Ocala.
The council made a motion to extend the time Wood has to complete the certification by another year.
“I recommend another year, giving time for additional roadblocks along the way,” Mayor Randy Knagge said.
The recommendation was approved 3-0, with Council President Janet Shaw and Councilwoman Ashton Bishop-Vargas absent from the meeting.
The next council meeting will be held Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.