TAMPA, Fla. — The Hillsborough Community College (HCC) Fire Academy is helping usher in new generations of firefighters at a time when they’re much needed.
Allison Lasnicki and Ron Rivera are students at HCC’s Fire Academy. Their passion is as clear as their commitment to the cause.
“I love serving my community,” said Rivera. “I think this career is a great honor.”
“I did a lot of ride alongs with the fire department and just really liked the culture, really liked the work, and can see myself doing it,” said Lasnicki.
Students learn everything from personal protective equipment, ladders, hoses, fire behavior, and beyond.
It’s not only physically difficult but also mentally difficult.
“They’ve got to have that level head,” said HCC Fire Academy Program Manager Kevin Reed. “They've got to be able to kind of remove themselves from the situation and be able to take control of it, to maintain their composure while dealing with many, many, many issues.”
Reed is also a third-generation firefighter.
As wildfire tragedies out West shed light on a nationwide firefighter shortage, Reed pointed out it’s prominent in Florida, too.
“We are having a very difficult time in the state of Florida, with retirements and then at the rate that the state of Florida is growing, essentially a city every year, in terms of influx,” said Reed. “The 50 academies produce 2,500 students here in the state of Florida on average. It’s pretty consistent over the last four or five years. It’s still not enough to cover the expansion of the departments as well as the loss from retirements, injuries, whatever it is.”
Reed called it the greatest job in the world, one that students at the Fire Academy are sure to be well prepared for to best serve their community.
“Once they do state testing here, as long as they’ve taken their national EMT class and gotten certified, they can apply for a job anywhere in the state of Florida and many other states as well,” said Reed.
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