Macomb will launch part-time fire academy this fall

MACOMB COUNTY — Macomb Community College will offer a part-time fire academy this fall.

Macomb already has a traditional 10-week fire academy. The full-time, daytime program is offered twice a year, once in the fall semester and once in the winter semester at the college’s East Campus, 21901 Dunham Road in Clinton Township, the location of the school’s fire tower.

The part-time academy is designed to offer the firefighting courses on an alternative schedule for students not able to attend class during the day due to scheduling conflicts.

The part-time academy will be held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and every other Saturday. It will run from August through April and will cover the same 400 instructional hours as the full-time academy. The part-time program will enroll up to 20 students. Macomb last offered a part-time academy in 2016.

“Interest in firefighting careers has continued to grow,” said Jeffrey Packett, director of Fire Academy and Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration Training Institute at Macomb Community College. “We’re seeing more people pursue the fire service than we can accommodate through traditional scheduling alone. Macomb’s new part-time academy creates an additional training pathway for people who might not be able to attend a full-time, daytime program.”

The part-time academy will use the same curriculum as the full-time course. The Macomb fire academy graduates prepare to take the state firefighting certification exams and earn 12 credit hours toward an associate degree in fire and emergency medical services technology.

The cadets are trained in all areas of firefighting. There is classroom instruction, hands-on drills, live fire exercises and physical training. They will encounter water rescue situations, flashover simulator training and more.

In one scenario, for instance, the students walk through a smoky maze in the dark where the floor could drop at any minute. Doing a rescue mission 110 feet up in the air and training in confined spaces are also part of the program.

The students aren’t taught by the same instructor each class, but by the different fire personnel who specialize in certain aspects of firefighting. That gives students the chance to learn skills from the best in their field. Packett said officials pull from 16 different fire departments to teach. One recent firefighter was an expert in rope technique. Students also have learned under specialists in rappelling, hazmat and rapid intervention teams.

Packett said when cadets come into the program, “They’re nervous.”

“It’s intimidating,” he said. “It’s strict. It’s disciplined.”

Packett explained that when departments hire 10 to 15 firefighters all at once, 20 or 25 years later they will likely retire around the same time.

“If they leave together, there’s a big hole,” Packett said.

Those openings need to be filled by qualified candidates. The college holds periodic recruitments to match firefighters with departments with vacancies.

“We get people from the U.P. and the Ohio and Indiana borders,” Packett said.

Before becoming an instructor, Packett was a firefighter in Roseville.

“This is not a job, it’s a career. The fire service is one big family. You have two lives. The fire life and your home life,” he said. He said the best part was, “Seeing the citizens. It was making a difference and helping the community.”

Evan Medina, of Roseville, graduated from the full-time Macomb Fire Academy last month.

“It’s very exciting,” Medina, 27, said. “It’s been a long 10 weeks. It’s a very rewarding program.”

Medina was a medic while serving in the U.S. Army. He worked other jobs after returning to civilian life, and firefighting was “in the back of my head.”

“I saw Macomb had a great academy,” he said. “It pretty much starts out teaching you the basics and the fundamentals.”

Medina said the program started off with basic training that increased as the cadets “built more skills.”

Climbing ladders, going through windows and rescuing mannequins were some of the exercises. The group also learned “how to rescue a downed firefighter, keeping calm and navigating ourselves out of confined buildings,” Medina said.

“I feel like Macomb set me up perfectly to go out into the field. You come out knowing what to do,” Medina said. “I feel ready to be the new guy.”

Potential students can find out more about Macomb’s Fire Training Center at ftc@macomb.edu.