In partnership with the Porterville Unified School District, Porterville Fire Department was able to host a 3 day long Fire Academy for the Law, Justice, and Ethics Pathway at Granite Hills High School at Station 72 off of Newcomb near Morton.
Taking time out of their winter break, 20 students chose to see what it takes to be a firefighter. Starting on day 1 on Monday with the basics, Fire Captain Rene Zavala welcomed all the students to the station and showed them the itinerary of what they would be doing throughout the next 3 days. Now not only was the Porterville Fire Department involved with this 3 day apprenticeship, Tule River Fire Department and Tulare County Fire Department were also in attendance to help educate these students.
Zavala started this program in hopes to grow our own firefighters by introducing our youth to what the expectations of being a firefighter are. As Zavala is an instructor for the Porterville College Fire Academy, he noticed our youth was a little bit behind as it comes to the fire service compared to kids from Fresno or Kern Counties. This is the first year of the apprenticeship program and hopes are that next year, each high school within the Porterville Unified School District will be able to attend and participate. Zavala mentioned how he hopes it's possible for more schools with different pathways to attend in the future, mentioning how useful it is to have trainees with different expertise. “We presented it to our department that we wanted to be proactive rather than reactive, and we wanted to start addressing it at the high school level.” said Zavala as he explained why he wanted to start this youth program.
Each day, the students went through training simulations, starting each day with physical training with actual fire equipment. Physical training included tower climbs, water hose carry, carrying SCBA cylinders, and 3 inch hose drag. After physical training on the first day, students were educated in CPR and first aid. Day 2 and 3 students were split into groups of 5 to start their stations. Zavala and Training Captain Jake Rayburn created training stations where students were able to practice actual firefighting skills. These stations consisted of the students performing tasks such as using small power tools, rescue drags, ropes and knots, and more. They even had to go through a station called “Station Life” where students had to perform life tasks such as making coffee, mopping, and cleaning floors.
Eleventh grade student Kameryn Fuller mentioned how this academy has made her want to get more involved with her community. “This process has been truly inspiring and something I can see myself pursuing in the future,” said Fuller.
“This academy has been pretty fun, something I really wanted to try,” said sophomore Alvin Josiah Watkins, the youngest amongst the 20 students.
Zavala hopes that with this academy the growth of local recruitment widens. “One of the things that we don’t want to do as a department or fire service is lower the standards.” said Zavala. “We want the best firefighters serving our community, serving your families.”
He said he hopes this apprenticeship will leave students with having a new perspective on selfless service and knowledge of what it takes to become a firefighter.