VIDEO: Local college students are learning what it takes to be a firefighter. Instructors from eleven fire departments across Southwestern Idaho are working with a select group of College of Western Idaho (CWI) students in a first-of-its-kind fire certificate program.
"They're gonna do a hose drag, they're also gonna do a ladder raise, and ladder lower..." said Kevin Platts, Director of Public Safety Programs, CWI.
The group of students underwent a rigorous Candidate Physical Ability Test on Thursday, which is used by over 450 fire departments to test their candidates. "Having that 170 pound dummy in the end-- that dummy weighs more than I do! So dragging it around the barrel is pretty challenging," Tucker Silva, student in the program.
The new semester-long Fire Service Technology certificate program is the only one of its kind within roughly 350 miles.