More than a dozen Rogue Valley firefighters from multiple different fire agencies from across Jackson and Josephine counties are going through even more training to better serve the community. All are hoping to learn and better understand what it takes to be a fire officer. A fire officer is the person in charge at things like structure fires or car accidents.
“We're teaching these students how to be that person in charge, how to make decisions about whether or not it's safe to go into that building, how to best help preserve properties, how to best help save lives. We're asking them to make some pretty critical decisions about saving lives,” said Medford Fire-Rescue’s Battalion Chief Kip Gray. "We're talking about people's safety. Not only the lives of firefighters but the lives of people who could be trapped inside a building.