Nick Wilson | [email protected]
Crawfordsville Fire Department EMS Chief Paul Miller announced the swearing in of three new firefighters Wednesday following a Board of Public Works & Safety meeting at City Hall.
With family and friends in attendance, firefighters Colton Meadows, Cole Maxedon and Brendan Mitchell took the oath to faithfully serve the people of Montgomery County.
“We’re really excited to have them on board. They’ll be starting shifts next week,” Miller said. “Two of them come to us locally; two of them have past military experience; and then we have one graduate from our local CTE program. It’s a good time for us.”
Meadows, a 2021 North Montgomery and West Central Career & Technical Education graduate, comes to CFD straight out of high school. Maxedon, while Maxedon, a Springfield, Illinois native, joins the crew following two years of firefighting in the Air Force. Mitchell, who spent four years on active duty in the U.S. Navy, recently relocated back to his native Crawfordsville after spending time in both Oklahoma and Arizona.
Meadows spent two years in the CTE firefighting and emergency medical technician certification programs, based at Southmont High School for several years. Through the program, Meadows earned his EMT certification, as well as official designations in firefighting, hazardous material handling and rescue through CFD.
Asked why he chose firefighting at such a young age, the 19 year old said he has always been drawn toward action.
“I’m an adrenaline junkie,” he joked. “The lights and sirens — I’ve always liked that stuff.”
Maxeon is an Illini creating Hoosier ties and carrying over the skills he learned during his time in the service as a firefighter with the Air Force National Guard. He is walking in his father Jake Maxedon’s footsteps, whom he said he has always admired.
“I looked up to him, and I wanted to do it so I joined the Air force, and [firefighting] is what I did. I found a passion for it,” Maxedon said. “Now I want to find a good city to work for.”
Crawfordsville graduate Mitchell, the elder of Wednesday’s initiates, joined the U.S. Navy following graduation in 2011. He spent four years in an active duty role in Oklahoma before finding himself behind a desk in Phoenix, Arizona, from which he said he desired a drastic change.
“I got sick of it. I wanted to do something where I could come and do my job and feel like I did something, help people out,” he said. “We found a house here … and I’m from here, so I’m coming back to family and I know people here.”
The trio will begin training as probationary firefighters next week.
