Program Description

The Fire Protection Technology (FIRE) program is designed to prepare the student for an entry-level career as a firefighter for private, municipal, industrial, state, and federal fire departments. Typical duties of firefighters may include responding to emergencies and performing work to save lives, stabilize emergency situations, reduce loss of property and improve public safety.

Firefighters additionally inspect, examine and care for emergency apparatus and equipment and perform routine maintenance to restore apparatus to a response-ready condition.

Fire Protection Technology is a systematic and organized inquiry into the occurrence of fire and its control. It is about gaining a deeper and useful understanding of fire’s development, strategies used by the fire service to prevent its occurrence and lessen its impact, and methods employed to combat it. It is also about understanding a complex vocation that calls upon its members to perform unusually challenging tasks under virtually any condition with little room for error – or better, adapting to the unforgiving culture of a critical public safety industry.

The training of students to become career firefighters is a key component of the Fire Protection Technology program. Subjects included in the program help to improve the firefighter’s use of knowledge, tools and systems to improve their career opportunities and the lives of those who they serve.

Entry into the Program

Please apply to the Admissions Office. Enrollment in the program is limited to thirty students entering each September. Selection is on a first-come, first served basis from a wait list. Students may enter the program only at the beginning of Fall Quarter. Winter and/or Spring quarter entry is based on prior experience and Department Chair permission. All students must meet with the Firefighter Training Department Chair prior to registration.

Firefighter courses can be physically demanding. Student must be medically and physically fit to participate.

Admission to individual classes for those students not in the Firefighter Training program is by Department Chair approval only. Prerequisites for all Firefighter Training classes must be met before enrolling in that specific FFT class.