BAYFIELD – Upper Pine River Fire Protection District and Bayfield High School launched a mentor-based internship program to help seniors find a path to public service and agencies find new recruits.
The fire service internship is part of the high school’s broader internship program. The fire service application process can be intense, but Upper Pine River is extending a helping hand to young people who think they have what it takes.
“The next generation of great providers ... they’re not going to be great providers without the mentorship and the pass-down of the trade that some of us older providers have attained,” said Bruce Evans, the agency’s fire chief.
The high school’s yearlong internship program helps juniors and seniors learn about working professionally and explore potential career pathways, said Amy Miglinas, a high school counselor.
In the past, Upper Pine River taught hazmat, fire science or wildland fire safety classes with the school. In fall 2017, the agency created an internship focused on job training and mentoring.
Its creation was fortuitous: One week, Vito Ciccarelli, a firefighter and emergency medical technician at Upper Pine, suggested a mentorship program to Evans, and the next week, a high school senior, Kaleb Heck, called asking for an internship.
During the internship, Heck worked at the fire station, trained in fire science, earned an EMT certification and joined medical calls with Ciccarelli as his mentor. A week after graduating in 2018, he started working with Upper Pine River wildland fire crews. In December 2018, Upper Pine hired him as a firefighter.
“I think that was a big part of why I wanted to do the fire service is just to have a lot of people that have my back,” Heck said. “Not only do they have my back, I have their back as well.”
In November, Heck and Ciccarelli presented the mentorship program at the 30th annual Iowa Emergency Medical Services Association conference – the first time either had spoken at a state conference.
“People wanted to sit in that class and find out what it’s going to take to bring the next generation into this profession,” Evans said. “They were all so impressed that the next day, many of the speakers were referring to Vito and Kaleb’s presentation.”
In 2017, the number of volunteer firefighters was the lowest it had been since the 1980s, according to a sample survey by the National Volunteer Fire Council.
That’s significant because 65% of firefighters in the country are volunteers, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
In small towns, like Bayfield, agencies have seen a 20% reduction in volunteer and career firefighters from 2015 to 2017. Plus, more firefighters are older than 50 and fewer are younger than 39 every year, according to the NFPA.
Fire service is a difficult profession to enter, and it takes a certain personality type to thrive in the high-pressure environment, Evans said.
Applicants must possess or be eligible for the Colorado EMT certification and have current firefighter and hazmat certifications, which require going to a fire academy, before getting a job.
While several students have done the Upper Pine River internship since Heck, some found they were better suited for other public service fields.
“The Upper Pine, they’ve been so great. They encourage our students to follow our passions, whether it’s with them or not,” Miglinas said.
Ciccarelli wanted to do the mentorship program because he had to navigate the process on his own. He spent three years working a full-time job, finishing his certifications at night and going to a fire academy on weekends.
“It was just a freaky thing, trying to go through all these certifications, trying to make yourself marketable in this profession without having any leadership,” he said.
Ciccarelli’s mentorship guided Heck through the steps needed to be a competitive fire service applicant. Ciccarelli pushed Heck through moments when he didn’t know if he could continue, like after he failed a final at the fire academy.
“I had a heart-to-heart with him, just saying that I can’t do this,” Heck said. “(The experience) was a real big maturing moment.”
In the future, Ciccarelli hopes to grow the internship into a competitive mentorship program where potential applicants turn into qualified candidates.
“Building a better generation – that’s always been the goal,” Ciccarelli said. “We’re building better firefighters. We’re building better people.”
smullane@durangoherald.com
