Career Centers in the News

Greenville students jump into firefighter training Nathaniel Cary, ncary@greenvillenews.com 8:12 a.m. EST January 4, 2016 It’s 2 p.m. on a Tuesday and Miles Snoddy is in school. But he’s not sitting in a classroom with pen and paper in hand. He’s crawling through an entrapment box filled with wires while decked out in full firefighter gear. Snoddy, a junior at J.L. Mann High School in Greenville, wriggles and winds his way on his back through a box that simulates obstacles he may face crawling through a smoke­filled building in a career he hopes to have as a professional firefighter. Snoddy has wanted to be a firefighter his entire life. He was three years­old when the Twin Towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001, but the stories he’s grown up hearing in school and elsewhere of heroic actions of public servants on that day inspired him. “Growing up and hearing stories of people making sacrifices for a greater cause really played a part in me wanting to be a firefighter,” Snoddy said. Snoddy is one of about 70 high school students who are training to become firefighters at one of three Greenville County school district career centers, said Brooks Smith, the school district’s career center director. The 2­year Firefighting Training course puts students like Snoddy a step ahead of others who are exploring a firefighting career, Smith said. Students can emerge from the class with a basic understanding of emergency and fire response as well as national certifications from the South Carolina Fire Academy for Hazmat Awareness, Hazmat Operations and Firefighter I and II through the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress, which provides graduates the certifications needed to work as a career or volunteer firefighter anywhere in the country. The school district sees it as a way to prepare more students for careers, not just for college, Smith said. Classes like the one that takes place daily at the Golden Strip Career Technology Center are the result of a strategic mission from state firefighters and educators at a time when more firefighters are needed to fill a looming shortage of firefighters in South Carolina, particularly in rural, mostly volunteer areas, said Bryan Riebe, recruitment and retention coordinator with the state firefighters association. Following a 2008 report on the status of the nation’s firefighting forces, South Carolina received funds from the Department of Homeland Security in 2009 to encourage youth to consider firefighting – either as a trained volunteer like 786,150 U.S. firefighters as of 2013, or as a career professional, which had grown to 354,600, according to the National Fire Protection Association. “Comparing our state’s numbers with national standards, the consensus was we needed to build (our force) in order to provide a margin of safety,” Riebe said. Nearly 80 percent of the state receives protection from rural, small­town fire departments, Riebe said. Some of those are combination departments with full­time staff and volunteers. Others are all­volunteer, he said. The Great Recession and rise of families with two wage­earners as well as higher standards for training has made it more difficult to recruit volunteers, whose time is at a premium, he said. The 17,500­member firefighters association realized it could make an impact in high schools so it developed a curriculum, which was approved by the state Department of Education, Riebe said. Last year, 12 schools across the state began the firefighter training courses. This year the number doubled to 24 schools with about 250 students total, he said. “The heart of the matter is to bring them in, give them experience as volunteers,” he said. “And if you speak to career firefighters, many of them began as volunteers.” Greenville County began its program at the Golden Strip center last school year with eight students. This year it has 23, said Jim Deese, fire instructor at the center. (Photo: Nathaniel Cary/STAFF) Buy Photo The district started firefighter training programs at its Enoree and J. Harley Bonds career centers this year and plans to add one at its Donaldson Career Center next school year, Smith said. The program additions were wrapped up in a district revamp of its career centers last year that moved some programs back into the high schools while making room for more certificate­level programs at the centers where students could graduate career­ready. The instructors are certified through the fire academy. Deese worked as a firefighter at Piedmont Park Fire Department before coming to the Golden Strip center. And the centers provide the same training as the fire academy, he said. “It’s just like bringing the fire academy to a high school,” Deese said. Students scale ladders, work hoses, wear complete fire gear, perform search and rescue operations and practice breaching doors. One recent afternoon, students raced to don and doff turnout gear, then took turns crawling through the entrapment box. Outside, firefighters from the Mauldin Fire Department delivered a truck for students to see. Fire departments have been eager to help, and since gear and equipment can cost thousands of dollars, the assistance is needed, Deese said. The state firefighter association presented a $22,500 grant last week to the school district to split between its three fire training programs. The funds will purchase additional tools for the program, Deese said. If the program takes off like it appears, Deese said he can envision adding fire boxes and obstacle courses at the career center. It already has a tworoom duplex inside where students perform search­and­rescue drills. And students can train at fire training centers, where they’ve learned to scale a ladder into a five­story building, one of the highlights of the inaugural year. Deese said. Rebecca Devall, a senior at Hillcrest, said she too, had always wanted to be a firefighter. Relatives have served as firefighters and she’d like to go to Greenville Technical College to become a fire medic, a two­year program. She’s already holds certification for HAZMAT awareness and the National Incident Management System and as a first responder. The program isn’t easy, Deese said. None of the eight students involved last year have earned all of the certifications yet, he said. Several are on their way this year though, he said. And if they do; “They can walk right in the door of a firehouse, if available, and get a job,” he said.