Bruce Springsteen may sing about fires, but his son, Sam, will be the one fighting them.

Fire departments across the area welcomed new members following the graduation of 42 trainees, including Springsteen's 20-year-old son, from the Monmouth County Fire Academy on Tuesday, Jan. 14 and Wednesday, Jan. 15. The graduates included three from Colts Neck: Brendan T. Murch, Michael M. Biyad and Sam R. Springsteen. In addition, Joseph O. Nappi joined the Morganville Independent Fire Company in Marlboro.

Sam's mother, musician Patti Scialfa, shared an Instagram photo of her son in uniform and wrote, "My youngest son, Sam, graduated from Monmouth County Fire Academy tonight. #Proud #OurFamilyHero." Classes 100 and 101 officially completed their training in areas including rescue, fire extinguishment, hazmat and CPR with graduation ceremonies at the Route 33 facility.

Each class also had one member receive the Ronald Fitzpatrick Award, named for a former instructor who died in 2003. The winner for Class 100 is new Shrewsbury Hose Company member Evan D. Tyler, while Timothy J. Smigelsky received the honor for Class 101. The full list of graduates can be found below. Freeholder John P. Curley congratulated the graduates on their accomplishments and thanked them for their impending service. "You will answer the call and place your lives on the line to save someone else's life and property, because that is what you are trained to do. And you received the best training available from the instructors at this academy."

Monmouth County Fire Marshal Henry Stryker III also congratulated the new members and said their work is just beginning in the field. "It takes a special type of person to be a firefighter," he said. "They have to have a passion to do this job. The graduates sitting before us have that passion because they have completed the rigorous training as their first step. Please be safe."

Applications for the September class are now being accepted.



Firefighter 1 – Class 100

Spencer T. Arnold Manasquan Fire Department