Fighting fires 101
Posted On: Friday, May. 28 2010 10:47 PM
By Rebecca LaFlure
Killeen Daily HeraldKilleen's fire training center resembled the scene of a devastating blaze Friday morning with plumes of smoke and crushed cars scattered across the facility.
Bright red fire trucks stood by as students dressed in fire suits crouched around the inferno, trying to extinguish the flames with high-powered water hoses.
The experience offered high school students a realistic scenario they might encounter as
firefighters.
First-year students in the Killeen Independent School District firefighter academy had an opportunity to put their classroom lessons into action during a training exercise that taught them how to work as a team to safely put out a blaze.
"Team effort is a big part of being a firefighter," said Fernanda Redwine, a Shoemaker High School junior who's dreamed of becoming a firefighter since he was a small child. "If one person messes up, everyone messes up."
The program, which served 12 first-year students this school year, started in 2003 as the second high school fire academy in the nation, KISD officials said.
The two-year program is offered for free to KISD junior and seniors, and gives them the opportunity to receive firefighter and emergency medical technician certifications before graduating from high school.
The cadets attend three-hour courses each school day to prepare them for the state certification exams.
Many graduates, such as Cameron Cooper, a fire and rescue officer and part of the academy's first graduating class, began working for the Killeen Fire Department directly after high school.
"A lot of kids come in irresponsible teenagers, but by the time they quit, they're leaders, responsible, proud … and have aspirations to do something with their life," said KFD Lt. Randy Pearson, program coordinator and training officer.
Instructors lit a large gas grill that resembled a Christmas tree, and the cadets worked to douse the flames.
Larry Mitchell, lead instructor and a KFD fire and rescue officer, said the scenario taught them how to control the fire hose nozzles, operate valves on the machines and effectively use the nozzles to push back the fire.
Mattia Pardee, a junior at Ellison High School who put out a fire for the first time Friday, said fighting a blaze is harder than it looks on TV and in textbooks.
"It's really exciting," she said. "It's not an easy job."
Contact Rebecca LaFlure at
rlaflure@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7548.
Watch video from this exercise at
www.kdhnews.com/multimedia