Bonita adds nine new firefighters to district

Marcus Orlins, 20, has followed in the footsteps of his father who has been with Bonita Springs Fire-Rescue for 20 years – a feat Orlins hopes he will top when he begins working as a firefighter in the same district.

But Orlins’ first honor came during a recent candidate graduation and pinning ceremony in which nine graduates completed a month-long orientation training that welcomed them to the area.

“This is just our Bonita Springs orientation but all these guys are trained and have been through fire school. Some of them have been firefighters elsewhere,” said fire-rescue spokesperson Debbi Redfield of the graduates that include one assistant training lieutenant.

The ceremony that included a reading of the oath and awards for top students in the academic and physical categories also marked a first for the department that recently moved into a new facility off Bonita Grande Drive.

The new facility offers enough space that family members were invited to participate in the ceremony by pinning badges onto their loved ones.

“We feel it’s very important for families to experience it and it adds to (graduates) moment,” Redfield said. “The other meeting room was very small so we didn’t have room for everybody.”

Sherri Bradford, 40, is pleased that she was able to attend the graduation because it was a moment in her son’s life that she didn’t want to miss.

She sat in the front row and happily watched as her husband, clad in his firefighter uniform, pinned Orlin’s badge on his chest.

“It was a very proud moment. I’m very excited and I think (Marcus) will learn a lot and they train well,” said Sherri Bradford, of Bonita Springs.

Father and son exchanged handshakes and hugs and posed for pictures with Orlins’ diploma.

“I’m pretty excited of him, he worked hard for what he did,” said Ed Bradford, 41, of Bonita Springs.

Working hard to get to that final diploma meant passing fire school, followed by Emergency Medical Technician school and then more weeks of training in Bonita protocol, policies, fire district maps and hands on training in various pieces of equipment.

“I’m excited to start my new career as a firefighter and kinda follow in the footsteps of my dad,” said Orlins, of Bonita Springs.