Where There’s Smoke, There’s...Learning - Cape Tech Students Explore Firefighting

SOUTH CHATHAM – On a recent morning, smoke filled a building on Main Street, and a bunch of teenagers went inside to search for anyone who was trapped.

 Only the “smoke” was from a fog machine, the victim was a rescue dummy, and the teens were students in Cape Tech’s four-year-old firefighting program, practicing under the supervision of Chatham firefighters.

 Working in teams, the students dressed in full protective gear and entered the building, the South Chatham fire station, which had been cleared out and outfitted with a maze of training “walls” that the kids would need to navigate in zero visibility. They crawled along the floor, feeling with their hands, and getting a sense of what a real search would be like in a burning building. It was one of a variety of exercises they experienced in the class, which involves 90 hours of instruction, and aims to help students decide whether a career in firefighting might be right for them.

 A project of Cape Tech, the Barnstable County Fire Chiefs’ Association and Chatham Fire Chief Justin Tavano, the class is open to Tech students from a variety of vocational shops. A number of previous participants have gone on to become firefighters, and two current students are planning on attending a firefighter training college in Maine upon graduating high school.

 In the long run, the program aims to help local fire departments attract new recruits at a time when departments often have trouble finding applicants for open positions.