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When the fire alarm goes off at 3 a.m., the decision to get up or stay in a comfy, warm bed is a toss up for University of Maine students living in residence halls. But, for students in the Call Division at the Orono Fire Department, it’s time for work.
“I love jumping off the truck at three in the morning and having RAs and RDs thank us for showing up and protecting their home away from home,” said Jim Morris, a third-year forestry major.
The Orono Fire Department has a special program that combines being a Call Division Firefighter with going to college. The program currently has 20 University of Maine students. Many of these students also have training in Emergency Medical Services, and serve on ambulance calls.
Students in the Call Division Firefighter Program must complete vigorous training and maintain these skills as they work for the town of Orono and UMaine.
Students in the program receive an eight-hour orientation and then must complete 120 hours of basic firefighter training, 110 EMS hours if serving on the ambulance, and if receiving further certification, 140 hours of hazardous materials training and 40 hours of training if becoming a student fire inspector.
“We make it pretty easy for students to come on,” said Lorin LeCleir, Orono’s fire chief. “But it is a commitment to stay on.”
The student firefighters can also receive training to drive and operate the fire trucks. Following their training, the student firefighters must work two shifts a week down at the Orono Fire Station for a total of 48 hours, but usually just sleep there at night and stay on call during shifts because of classes. The student firefighters also attend training drills twice a month and during this summer students receive credit for continuing drill attendance at their hometown fire departments.
The student firefighters are usually the first ones on scene when a call is toned out on campus, LeCleir said.
“We would be strapped without students, they are a huge asset,” LeCleir said. “There is a critical shortage of firefighter paramedics in our state.”
Students in the program receive $6.50 an hour for training and receive help in tuition to fire attack schools to receive Firefighter 1 and 2 classifications. Students must complete work at the fire academy before becoming interior firefighters.
“This is an important step as many firefighters statewide are not afforded this training,” said Mark Nadeau a fourth-year English major.
Students in the Call Division Firefighter Program have to balance being a student and responding to calls at all hours of the day or night, attending training drills and helping their fellow students at UMaine and members of the Orono community.
“I hate being a student, and I love my job,” said Eric Dos Santos, a second-year kineseolgoy and physical education major. “I would rather be a non-student, full-time firefighter than a full-time student and call department firefighter.”
There are added perks to the job that not all students enjoy.
“My favorite aspect [of student fire fighting] is having a pager that tones out to fire and ambulance calls, so if it goes off in class I can leave and go help them out, with understanding from my teachers,” said Jamie Lancaster, a third year mass communications major.
The student firefighters also work at the Alfond Arena during games and events to do inspections to make sure sprinklers are working properly and make sure fire exits and doors are clear.
The university teams up with the Orono Fire Department to have five of the student Call Division Firefighters become student fire marshals.
The fire marshals live on campus and have to inspect doors and other aspects of the buildings in their district once a week.
“Having campus marshals on campus has drastically improved the fire safety of all the buildings on campus,” Nadeau said. “The University of Maine has had way too many large dormitory fires over the years, and anything that can be done to protect from another one is a step in the right direction.”
In the spring of 2000, during the Hancock Hall fire student Call Division Firefighters were the first on scene. The two students who arrived first were very important to begin the search and rescue aspect of the fire, Chief LeCleir said.
“The Hancock fire was the closest call in recent memory,” LeCleir said.
The UMaine student Call Division used to have its own fire house on campus as part of the Orono Fire Department. Company 25, as it was called, operated out of the shared station with the University Ambulance. Company 25 had its own fire truck, responded to all alarms on campus and responded mutual aid to Orono for larger incidents. Today the fire truck is at the Orono Fire Department. There are plans to try to get the company house back on campus in the future, according to LeCleir.
“For lack of a place to house the apparatus, this program is no longer in place, which is a compete tragedy to those seeking a way to matriculate into the fire service,” Nadeau said.
The student fire fighters form a family atmosphere, which includes getting home cooked meals at the fire station when on duty.
“All the guys at the station form another family,” said Jeremey Gagne, a first-year electrical engineering technology major.
Lancaster, whose father is a battalion chief of Howard County Maryland’s Fire Department, feels that the drills and firefighting have given her skills that she will use for years to come. The training encompasses not just fire training, but extrication from regular and hybrid cars, search and rescue, boat and cold water rescue, hazardous materials and terrorism training.
“The things I learn from the career firefighters will last me a lifetime, and this is stuff I would never learn on a campus or in a classroom. Mock drills are created to help us understand a real situation and better prepare us for a catastrophe,” Lancaster said.
The training students receive is unlike any other.
“It is a new experience. The training is not like most training you get for other jobs. You learn a great deal that you can take with you to anywhere,” said Duane Albert, a third-year political science major. “It feels good to know that you can help someone out.”
“It [the program] has been a valuable experience and one that teaches you life long lessons that go beyond how to fight a fire.” Lancaster said.
Related Posts:- Fire guts Orono apartment building (June 11, 2009)
- Fire in University Park displaces Orono family (March 27, 2003)
- Orono, Old Town crews stop fire at College Avenue house (October 24, 2005)
- Cause of Main Street fire under investigation (March 3, 2003)
- Dryer fire doused (November 13, 2003)
