McLean County Times

The Bloomington City Council recently swore in three firefighters who had completed their first year of probationary status.

At the Feb. 27 city council meeting, Fire Chief Eric West honored the firefighters who were hired in February of 2022, and then attended the academy later that month. They completed a nine-week course at the Fire Service Academy and continued their training in two-week lessons at the Bloomington Fire Department. This included EMS training, as well. The firefighters went into several rotations and joined several crews for shifts. After about six months of shadowing they joined crews as the members to serve the rest of their probationary period that ended on Feb. 14. 

“For about six months they were doing a rotation where the captains would observe them and evaluate them on a monthly basis, and at the seven-month period they did a hands-on where we again observed them to make sure they were meeting our standards,” said West. “I’m pleased to inform you that all three of these members received high recommendations from their officers to be fruitful appointments to the department.”

West introduced the three firefighters to the city council, starting with Cody Cheeseman who is a second-generation firefighter. His father was a captain for one of the shifts in Bloomington. Cheeseman attended the fire science program in high school and earned a paramedic’s certificate in college.

Tyler Ept is also a second generation firefighter and his father served in the Normal Fire Department. Ept has a paramedic license and worked as a paramedic before joining the department. 

Kyle Walder earned his paramedic license in college and worked as a volunteer firefighter before joining the department.

The three firefighters took their official oath of office and were sworn in at the meeting, with the majority of the department in attendance. They were thanked by the mayor, who promised to send more young recruits their way in the coming years.