Newly graduated Austin firefighter Samson Salley has a toy fire helmet placed on his head by his son Michael as they play around following his commencement ceremony. The Austin Fire Department held commencement services for Cadet Class #119 Friday, February 17, 2017, at the Great Hills Baptist Church in northwest Austin. The class of 26 will report to their assigned fire stations to begin as six-month probational firefighters. Another cadet class is set to graduate in April while a new cadet class will begin the 28-week training session in March. According to Division Chief Palmer Buck, the fire department is 117 firefighters short as they try to keep up retirements, etc. Photo by RalphBarrera #statesmanphoto #austinfiredepartment #afd #austin #texas #firefighter