COLLEGE PARK, Md. - When University of Maryland students Steve Kerber and Tom Slane jumped on the fire truck as volunteer firefighters for the College Park Fire Department one Sunday last month, they knew they were headed back to campus, where a fire was burning in the Physics building. They found not just a routine call, but a smoke-filled inferno where a university employee was trapped and unconscious.
With only seconds before they would have to leave for their own safety, the students crawled into the intense heat and blackness, electrical panels exploding and popping, and pulled 41-year-old Kurt Tassche out of the flames. Waiting by the ambulance to take the injured man to the hospital was another Maryland student, Emergency Medical Technician Caroline Wright. Tassche would die a week later from lung damage, but, in the longstanding tradition of the fire service, the students' efforts gave him a chance to fight for his life.
Kerber, Slane and Wright are just three of more than 19 University of Maryland students who volunteer at the College Park station and approximately 40 who are members of Prince George's County volunteer stations within a five-mile radius of the campus. Their presence in the departments, says Don Moltrup, chief of the Hyattsville department and a Maryland graduate, "makes us much more able to staff our units at night than the other volunteers stations in the county."
Many of the student firefighters live in the firehouse and commute to campus for class. They take call in the evenings and on weekends, freeing up paid firefighters. Many of the students do it because they study Fire Protection Engineering (FPE) at Maryland, the nation's only university to offer the subject as a fully accredited undergraduate major and one of only two that offer an FPE graduate degree program. Others do it for the camaraderie of the firehouse or because they were volunteers in their hometown fire departments before enrolling at Maryland. All of them do it, as Tom Slane says, because they believe in working "passionately toward protecting the life and safety of the University and the surrounding area."
The Academic Connection
The academic connection that began this unique relationship
between the University of Maryland and the fire service remains
strong today. A university chemistry professor started the College
Park Volunteer Fire Department in 1925. The university gave the
land for the current College Park station and provides $350,000
annually to help support the station, which answers 50 percent of
its fire calls on campus.
The university's Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute (MFRI) started as an arm of the engineering department's fire service extension, also in 1925. Today MFRI, headquartered across Rt. 1 from the university, is the state's fire and emergency service training agency.
The strong Fire Protection Engineering (FPE) department at the university brings students to College Park and the volunteer fire service opportunities around the campus.
"The strength of the university's fire protection engineering program can be seen in the high demand for our graduates among employers throughout the U.S. and in the strong ties that exist between the department and its alumni," said James Milke, associate professor and associate chair in the FPE department.
"Our program provides students a balance in course work between theory and applications and gives them opportunities to participate in research. The practical experiences of FPE student firefighters helps them to appreciate the conditions produced by fires in buildings and how these conditions can change dramatically in a short time period far better than can classroom discussions or videos," said Milke, who was a student firefighter in College Park during the mid 1970s while obtaining his undergraduate degree in fire protection engineering.
Students, Alumni the Mainstays
Terp student firefighters don't end their careers when they
move on after college. Fire protection engineering majors fill
critical needs for fire protection engineers and fire service
personnel in government, industry, the military and professional
fire fighter services. And they continue to serve as volunteers.
Chris Clark joined the Berwyn Heights department when he was a student at Maryland 19 years ago. Today, he's the chief. "We have a lot of people who are Maryland graduate," Clark says. In most cases, they stay with us for a long time."
"Almost a hundred per cent of our current volunteer force are Maryland alumni, former students and current students," says College Park volunteer chief Fred Welsh, who began his firefighting career at the department when he was a Maryland student. "You have to go back to the 1950's to find someone who didn't come to Maryland first and then here."
The requirements for students to stay with and live at the College Park department, for example, are rigorous. They must be fulltime students in the University System of Maryland, maintain at least a 2.0 grade average, rotate coverage of 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift and complete a minimum of 100 hours of firefighting and 120 hours of EMT training at MFRI.
Sometimes, when they are back at the firehouse, the smoke and debris cleared, the reality of fire and rescue hits home for these student firefighters. This was particularly true after the tornado that ripped through campus in September, 2001, killing two daughters of a MFRI staffer, destroying the temporary MFRI headquarters and injuring several people inside, "They needed a stress debriefing," says Fred Welsh. "They were there, digging victims out of the wreckage. That was difficult for all of us. "This is not little league," says Welsh. "This is the majors. We're talking about young people who are balancing college and learning, in a sense, to go to war. The life and welfare of other firefighters depends on the decisions that students like Steve Kerber make inside a burning building. And they are making good decisions."
Why They Do It:
Steve Kerber, junior FPE; lieutenant College Park VFD; 800 calls
in 3 years - "Growing up, my dad, uncles and grandfather were
all firefighters ... in my hometown department of Broomall,
Pennsylvania. I joined when I was 16, and have been active ever
since. While I love the fire service, I don't want to be a career
firefighter and wanted to go to college for something math and
science oriented. I discovered Maryland's fire protection engineering
program and found a way to be involved in math, science and the fire
service at the same time. I took a tour of the (College Park) fire
house as a freshman and have been highly involved ever since."
Tom Slane, sophomore FPE; firefighter, College Park VFD - "I got into firefighting when I was 16...in my town, River Edge, New Jersey...When I came down to school, I was looking for that same camaraderie and spirit I had found at home. After my first semester on campus, I moved into the College Park fire station, and I have been surrounded by a great group of friends ever since."
Caroline Wright, senior computer engineering, Darnestown, MD; EMT in charge of an ambulance, College Park VFD: plans to go to medical school - "I became an EMT so I could get some exposure to medicine and become more involved in the community. I have been volunteering with College Park for a little over a year, and it has been an incredible learning experience."
Jeff Taylor, senior FPE major, Syracuse, NY; Berwyn Heights VFD; Served for a week at Ground Zero last year - " I got into firefighting as a curiosity as to what it was all about. When I first started off, I wasn't too sure if I would like the whole ideas, but now find firefighting to be one of the most enjoyable and challenging parts of my life."
Jason Grimes, senior FPE major; Potomac Heights VFD, Charles County, MD; commutes from Charles County to College Park so he can serve with his home fire department - "A friend and I joined the Potomac Heights Volunteer Fire Department right before we turned 16. I have commuted to College Park for classes for the last four years."
Nick Havrilla, Jr, masters degree, graduate student FPE, UM; firefighter/engine driver Laurel VFD; employed at UM in Dept. of Environmental Safety - "I am 28 years old. I got my start in the fire service in my hometown fire department, Munhall (PA) Volunteer Fire Department...it has been a family tradition since the '30's. I became an interior firefighter the day I graduated high school."
Dennis Kovach, senior FPE, Columbus, OH; EMT trainee, Berwyn Heights VFD - "I've been interested in the fire service since I was two years old. In fact that's what led to my major. I had not been active since my freshman year here, but after the tornado last year I decided to get back into the service, and in the spring I joined Berwyn Heights."
Dave Ohler, junior FPE major, Chesapeake Beach, MD; Rookie, Hyattsville VFD - "I got my feet wet in the fire service at home in Calvert County and am now a rookie firefighter at Hyattsville. I'm currently in the EMT class."
