California High School Firefighting Program Eyes Funding
Instructor Phil Whitson planned to retire last June but came back when the program's standing became unstable.
"It looked like they were not going to replace me and let the program die," Whitson said. Phone calls poured in and residents put school officials on the spot, resulting in at least one more year of funding, Whitson said. "I'm really glad the school sees the value in this program and what it's doing for students," he said.
The program is unique for its student-run "Grizzlies Fire Department" which has its own fire engine, bay, medical equipment and turnout gear. The students go through real firefighter certification courses, including live fire training at their own "flashover survival laboratory."
After school officials decided to continue the program and hired a new instructor, however, the new instructor never showed up, so Whitson came back for the current school year.
Whitson said he always tries to improve the program and he has made some big changes since the last time it was featured on Firehouse.com in February 2001. He realized that most of his students were starting their careers as wildland firefighters, so last year he found a way to include wildland firefighting training in his program.
Whitson compressed his program so that in addition to the full Firefighter 1 curriculum, students now take the California Department of Forestry's Wildland Firefighting 1 academy. All of Whitson's students went through last year, and 40 completed the program and were certified. Whitson said that afterward, quite a few got picked up by the CDF.
On top of that, Whitson's program follwed the CDF class with the Forest Services's Wildland Survival class, which makes the students employable by the Forest Service. Whitson said 45 students graduated from that class, including half a dozen adults from the community who also wanted to take advantage of the training. He said since then, the Forest Service has also picked up some of his students.
"Last year we really kind of stepped out of the norm for anything any high school is doing," Whitson said. He said there is an added expense to hiring the instructors for the wildland firefighting classes, but it is a part of of the program he hopes to continue. "So far we're looking good," he said. "We're hoping that the funding stays in place."
Whitson said his program is always looking for donations and they are excited that they will soon be receiving portable radios from the Clovis Fire Department. Also, the Forest Service recently bought them 50 pairs of gloves, and one student's parents are so excited about how the program has inspired their daughter that they donated $1,000 and hope to continue donating every semester. Whitson used the money to buy new helmets for the students, so now every student has their own helmet, gloves and turn out coat. "Some of it's pretty ragged but we're happy to have it," he said. He said they are still short on boots and pants.
In addition to preparing students for the workforce, Whitson said training for the fire service has inspired many of his students to become upstanding members of the community, to be organized, to take classes seriously, to go to college, and to work harder in general to get better at what they do.
Whitson also said that after the article about his program appeared on Firehouse.com a few years ago, he received calls about it from around the country, including Alaska, and he has since helped to start similar programs at four other schools around California.
Whitson said he is going to try to retire again at the end of this school year and believes that this time, the school district will do their best to protect the program. "I think after what happened last year they would be commiting political suicide if they let this program go," he said.
Related: