Toledo fire department recruits graduate Friday

Classmates to honor Pvt. James Dickman who died Jan. 26

Toledo firefighter James A. Dickman

Toledo firefighter James A. Dickman

A class of Toledo fire recruits will graduate Friday from their academy.

The group of nearly 50 men and women went through 13 weeks of fire training and another nine weeks of emergency medical technician training.

The ceremony starts at 7 p.m. at the University of Toledo's Doermann Theatre.

The graduating class will honor their fallen classmate, James Dickman, who died in the line of duty on Jan. 26.

Private Dickman, 31, and Private Stephen Machcinski, 42, died from burns they suffered while responding to a fire at 528 Magnolia St., a two-story apartment building in North Toledo.

The building's owner, Ray Abou-Arab, 61, 1131 Sierra Dr., Oregon, is accused of setting the fire and is charged with two counts of aggravated murder each with death penalty specifications, two counts of murder, eight counts of aggravated arson, and one count of tampering with evidence.

He remains in the Lucas County jail in lieu of $5.850 million.