The Suffolk Fire and Rescue Department will hold a promotional ceremony this week for nine personnel.

The ceremony will be held Thursday at 
6 p.m. in City Council chambers, 441 Market Street. Light refreshments will be served following the ceremony.

 

The following personnel will be promoted to the rank of captain:

 

• Lt. Demitri Wilson joined the Suffolk Department of Fire and Rescue on July 16, 1999. Following graduation from the Southside Regional Fire Academy, he was assigned to Station 1, Engine Company 1. On Feb. 15, 2005, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and assigned to Rescue Company 1, B Shift, until January 2011. On Jan. 18, 2011, he was reassigned to Engine Company 3, B Shift as the acting captain.
• Lt. Leon Ratliff joined the Suffolk Department of Fire and Rescue on March 1, 1998. Following graduation from the Southside Regional Fire Academy, he was assigned to Station 10. On Feb. 15, 2005, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and assigned to Station 8, B Shift. He is currently assigned to the Training Division and is in charge of the Southside Regional Fire Academy Class 50, currently being held in Suffolk.
• Lt. Scott Brower joined the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Department on Sept. 15, 1997, and graduated from the Southside Regional Fire Academy in 1998. He was assigned as a Firefighter to Engine Company 2, B Shift and later Engine Company 8, B Shift. He was promoted to lieutenant in February 2003 and was subsequently assigned to Engine Company 8, C Shift; Ladder Company 3, C Shift; Ladder Company 5, C Shift; Ladder Company 5, B Shift; Officer in Charge at the Southside Regional Fire Academy, Ladder Company 3, B Shift; and Engine Company 3, B Shift. He is currently serving as the acting captain for Engine Company 3, C Shift.

 

The following personnel will be promoted to the rank of lieutenant:

 

• Firefighter Steven Henkle joined the Suffolk Department of Fire and Rescue in November 2001. Firefighter Henkle graduated from the Southside Regional Fire Academy as a member of Class 27. He is currently assigned as the driver/operator of Engine Company 2, which is located at Fire Station 1.
• Senior Firefighter Brian Bunting joined the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Department on Oct. 1, 2001, after previously serving with the Chesapeake Fire Department since 1996. He has been a senior firefighter for five years.
• Firefighter Nicholas Savage joined the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Department on Sept. 15, 2004. Initially assigned to Station 4, B Shift, his additional assignments have included Engine Company 8, Shift B; Engine Company 3, Shift B; Ladder Company 3, Shift B; and, most recently, Ladder Company 3, Shift C.
• Firefighter Keith Johnson joined the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Department in March 2004. He was part of the Southside Regional Fire Academy’s Class 31. He was initially assigned to Station 3 and has served his entire career there, with the exception of a 14-month-stay at Station 8. He currently is assigned to Ladder Company 3, where he provides Advanced Life Support medical treatment as a paramedic.
• Firefighter Eric Mathews joined the Suffolk Department of Fire and Rescue on March 1, 2001. He graduated from the Southside Regional Fire Academy as a member of Class 26. After graduation, He was assigned to Fire Station 7 as a firefighter on Engine 7. In January 2002, he was reassigned to Station 1 as a firefighter on Engine 1, where he became driver/operator of Engine 1 until present.
• Firefighter Lin Baker joined the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Department on June 16, 2000. He was a part of the Southside Regional Fire Academy Class 25 and graduated on Jan. 18, 2001. He was assigned to C Shift, Battalion 1, Station 4. He was reassigned to Engine 2 in February 2002. In February 2003, he was assigned to the B Shift for Battalion 1 as a Field Incident Technician. After three years on B shift, he was transferred to the A shift as the Battalion 1 FIT.