The Houston County Career Academy is training future firefighters for the Wiregrass. The Houston County School Board discussed contracts for renewing the science fire program at a meeting on Tuesday afternoon. This is the fourth year of the program, and several dozen students have gone through the course already. The students that graduate have the chance to immediately make a difference. Houston County Schools Career Tech Supervisor, Chris Maloy says "any students that go through this program and completes the program in high school, they actually meet the requirements to be a volunteer firefighter and our county and counties all over the state have a shortage of volunteer firefighters." The students can also go to just a five-week bridge course at the Alabama Fire College in Tuscaloosa to become a certified firefighter anywhere in the state.