35 SMCC students will live and work as firefighters

Courtesy / SMCC Thirty-five first-year SMCC students are participating in a three-week Summer Fire Academy in Falmouth to develop basic firefighting and EMS skills for participation in the college's Public Safety Live-in Program.

Write a Comment

By Staff

Thirty-five college students are preparing for potential careers as firefighters and emergency medical personnel by moving into fire stations across southern Maine.

The students this fall will enter Southern Maine Community College’s Public Safety Student Live-in Program, according to a news release Tuesday. They’re now getting basic training during the school’s three-week Fire Academy, in preparation for firefighter certification tests next month.

The students will then be ready for on-the-job training as they live and work at 30 fire-EMS stations in 16 communities, including Kennebunk, Raymond and Topsham.

The trainees, who maintain their enrollment as full-time SMCC students, receive career experience and training, while the partner communities benefit from additional staffing. That’s increasingly important, as the ranks of volunteer firefighters have fallen in recent years, said Falmouth Fire Chief Howard Rice in the release.

“The best decision I ever made as chief was to become part of SMCC’s Live-in Program,” Rice said. “The students are living the firefighter’s life every day.”