Three new recruits started working at the Lockport Fire Department earlier this month in fulfillment of the four new positions placed in the department’s budget last year.
The three new firefighters and EMTs are Xavier Jones, Ben Kalbfliesh and Derek Caldwell. The fourth position was given to returning firefighter Sergio Dicenso who had left LFD last year to work in Washington D.C.
Jones, Kalbfliesh and Caldwell are all from the area. Jones grew up in Amherst, Kalbfliesh from Pendleton and Caldwell is a Lockport native.
- Factory Crews Help Firefighters Put Down Blaze at Lockport (NY) Chemical Plant
- Missoula (MT) Fire Department To Hire More, Expand Capacity With Federal Grant
- A Strategy for Finding New Recruits
Caldwell, 38, is also the father of an 11-year-old boy named Erik Caldwell. Before getting the job in Lockport, he was a firefighter with South Lockport Fire Co. and studied criminal justice at SUNY Niagara.
He said that he considered working as a firefighter to be “a noble job” that he could give back with.
Jones, 24, said the reason he wanted to be a firefighter was, “They make bad situations better.”
After graduating from Amherst High School, Jones worked as a construction worker, and then as an EMT in a commercial ambulance company. He said he’s a hands-on learner and that the other firefighters are good about giving tips on how to get better.
“Everyone you ask gives a little more of how to do the job right, in their experience,” Jones said.
Kalbfliesh, 20, started volunteering in 2022 in Pendleton, following his father and his brother into firefighting. In fact, Kalbliesh’s brother Nicholas is a lieutenant in the Lockport Fire Department.
As for the other personnel, Kalbfliesh said they are “great” and “wonderful to work with.” Like Jones, he noted that everyone was about being the best they could be in the job and have helped him become better as well.
Kalbfliesh also worked for AMR as a commercial EMT, as well as at the water department in Pendleton.
“I think it’s the best job in the world,” he said of his new position, adding that he’s very excited to be working at LFD.
___
(c)2024 the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal (Lockport, N.Y.)
Visit the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal (Lockport, N.Y.) at lockportjournal.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
