Firefighter Academy Gives Students a Head Start

• Some North Dakota teenagers are getting first-hand experience with the skills they would need to become professional firefighters.
• The city of Dickinson’s fire department conducts a certification course for high school students, qualifying them for college credit and positioning them to apply for jobs in firefighting.
• A grant from Marathon Petroleum’s Dickinson renewable diesel facility is helping the fire department provide equipment for students who enroll in the course.

High school students in southwestern North Dakota who want to become firefighters don’t have to wait to find out what it’s like. A two-semester course taught by the city of Dickinson’s fire department offers students opportunities to earn certification for entering the field. Using the same tools and equipment as professional firefighters is essential to the program, which prompted a recent $2,000 grant to the fire department from Marathon Petroleum’s Dickinson renewable diesel facility.

“In the future, we might be working side by side with these students if we ever need to call upon outside help or are asked to assist another department.”

“The city’s fire department provides personal protective equipment for the students, which is quite costly, and this grant will help with some of that expense,” said the renewable diesel facility’s Interim Fire Chief Nate Eberle.

The city fire department’s Firefighter 1 Academy course is administered through the Roughrider Area Career and Technical Center, a regional facility that serves schools from 12 area communities. Completing the course gives students options when deciding which direction to take after graduating from high school. They qualify for credits toward a fire science degree at Dickinson State University and are also in position to pursue jobs with fire departments.

“Most departments in the state will require, at minimum, Firefighter 1 certification, which is what students will get after they have successfully completed the cognitive and practical exams,” said Eberle. “This program also offers Firefighter 2 certification as a possibility for students.”

The grant from the Dickinson renewable diesel facility adds to its ongoing support for the local community and first responders throughout the area. The facility’s fire brigade maintains a mutual aid agreement with all surrounding fire departments in Stark County, meaning they will provide resources and equipment to each other, as needed, during emergencies. Eberle pointed out how the grant brings it all full circle.

“In the future, we might be working side by side with these students if we ever need to call upon outside help or are asked to assist another department,” he said.