The Hesperia Fire Explorer Jonathan Hearn has been honored with the prestigious position of Fire Chief of the 17th Annual Inland Empire Fire Explorer Association (IEFEA) Fire Academy being held at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, and at the Marine Corp Logistic Base Annex in Yermo, November 12th through the 16th.

Jonathan will be overseeing the activity of the Fire Academy. This year the academy will be trained in Class 3 Fire Training (Structural Fire Training). Last year 220 explorers from San Bernardino and Riverside Counties attended the academy.

This year will be a larger challenge since the academy will take place at two locations. It will be like having two academies at one time, hence a larger responsibility for this young man. The leadership academy held this past September helped train and provide Jonathan with the tools needed to be a leader. Jonathan had to endure an oral review board and was competing against eleven other candidates during his quest to be the Fire Chief of the Academy.

Leadership roles are not new to Jonathan. In 2006, he served as a Lieutenant at the Explorer Academy, responsible for a squad of explorers. In 2007, he worked as a Division Chief, presiding over one-quarter of the Academy, and was the Academy’s Public Information Officer.

“I am looking forward to the roles and challenges I face as Fire Chief of this year’s academy. My goal is to optimize the training environment for the explorers in attendance so that we may all become better firefighters and leaders in the communities we hope to serve in the near future”, stated Jonathan Hearn.

Jonathan Hearn has been an explorer with San Bernardino County Fire Department for three years at the Hesperia Explorer Post. After spending his first year as an Explorer Trainee, committing himself to the expansion of his fire service education, he was promoted to Assistant Chief overseeing training. Jonathan found this position to be a challenging opportunity to expand his individual knowledge of the fire service and in preparation to instruct other explorers. Early in 2008, he was promoted to the Post Chief, giving him the responsibility to lead the Post under the supervision of advisory staff.

While attending Arrow Christian High School in Hesperia, Jonathan attended college part-time as a concurrent student. Since graduating high school in 2007, he has continued on with his education at Victor Valley Community College (VVC). He is currently working towards finishing two Associate degrees, one in Construction Technology and the other in Fire Technology. Jonathan received his EMT National Registry and graduated from the VVC Firefighter I Academy last spring. Jonathan stated his goals are to attend paramedic school and become a career firefighter with the San Bernardino County Fire Department.