Officials warm to ‘live-in’ project EMTC students help firefighters

loading...

HOLDEN – When he’s not in class, Jason Bosse usually can be found at the local fire station.

A tall, lean 19-year-old, Bosse has been living at the local firehouse since August as a participant in a residential program for fire science technology students. Under the program, he lives in the Holden fire station at no cost – in exchange for staffing it during times there otherwise would be no personnel.

Bosse’s quarters are Spartan. He sleeps in an 8-by-10 bunk room. He fixes his meals in a kitchenette he shares with the Town Office staff. The dishes he washed earlier sit in a drying rack next to the sink. There is a shower stall, sink and toilet in the tiny bathroom nearby.

“The station wasn’t designed for this, but we’re making it work,” Holden Public Safety Director James Ellis said during a recent visit.

Despite the austere accommodations, Bosse said, he doesn’t mind them if they mean getting him closer to his goal.

“I’ve always wanted to be a firefighter,” said Bosse, a Holden resident who first joined the local fire department at 15 as a junior firefighter, while showing a reporter around his lodgings.

A former investigator with the State Fire Marshal’s Office, Ellis was the first area chief to implement a live-in program for fire science students enrolled in the program at Eastern Maine Technical College, a satellite of the main program at Southern Maine Technical College in South Portland.

Still in its fledgling phase in this part of Maine, the live-in program is gaining in interest.

“Growth – that’s what we’re hoping for,” William Leighton, EMTC’s fire science training coordinator and student adviser, said recently. He said seven students from as far away as Deer Isle and Skowhegan have expressed interest in being live-ins next year.

Ellis said three area departments are considering live-in programs and are seeking permission to do the remodeling needed to accommodate students. If all three come on board, up to six more students could be placed next year.

Smaller fire departments in Maine and across the nation have suffered a chronic shortage of volunteers in recent years, Ellis noted. Yet the number of calls they respond to continues to climb. In 1975, he said, the Holden Fire Department had 35 calls. Today, the yearly total is nearing 300 calls.

Bosse is the sixth live-in student that Holden has hosted since starting its program in 1998. Ellis said others have come from as far away as Patten and Farmington.

Bangor Fire Chief Jeff Cammack, chairman of this region’s fire science advisory board, is among the proponents of the residential program.

“We’ve hired several [former live-in students],” he said. When they arrive, he said, they’re ready to work.

From where he sits, Ellis sees the live-in program as a “win-win” deal for the student and the host community.

For the student, a free place to live amounts to roughly $4,000 a year in savings. In addition, the town provides the gear and pays for one course per semester, plus books. Maine Fire Training and Education, the Maine Technical College System department that provides training and education to about 12,000 firefighters in nearly 500 departments across the state, covers nearly half of live-in students’ tuition, Ellis said.

Ellis said the town’s benefits include more available personnel at the station during the daytime and overnight hours. That, he said, has reduced the department’s response time by as much as half.

Ellis and Steve Willis, coordinator of the SMTC fire science program, believe the program’s merits go beyond dollars and cents.

Since SMTC started its live-in program 15 years ago, at least 150 students have completed it. Many have become career firefighters, fire inspectors, arson investigators or fire safety educators, Willis said. Some have landed jobs in industrial settings.

Leighton said the fire science program is largely classroom based. “Having our students in a real-world setting rounds our students out. It give the students a lot of real-world experience.”

That experience gives students a competitive edge, he said. In Maine, there are only about 1,000 career firefighter positions, and those tend not to turn over much, he said. Having proven their mettle as live-ins makes participants “highly employable.”

Ellis said the experience Bosse is obtaining isn’t limited to firefighting. Bosse also takes emergency phone calls, goes on medical calls as a first responder, serves residents who drop by the station, and handles complaints.

Despite the financial savings, the program is not a free ride.

As a live-in, Bosse is considered a regular member of the fire department. He’s required to participate in training and go on calls. He’s expected to help with equipment and vehicle maintenance.

He must be up and dressed and have his bed made by 7:30 a.m. on regular business days, though he may sleep in until 9 a.m. weekends and holidays. On weekdays, he’s required to be at the station from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. He is assigned station coverage every other weekend, unless other arrangements have been approved.

Bosse must keep his living area in a presentable condition. Daily housekeeping duties include washing dishes, keeping his bedroom, bathroom and floors clean and emptying the trash. His bunk room is subject to random inspection.

According to Holden’s rules, candidates must be at least 18, submit an application, undergo an interview and background check, have transportation and a driver’s license, and be enrolled in school full time. Participants must maintain a C average or better.

By the time they complete the program, Willis said, live-in students will not only have earned an associate degree in fire science. By training with their host departments, most also will have earned Firefighter I certification – the minimum needed for fighting interior fires, learned how to drive and operate emergency vehicles, and become qualified to respond to hazardous material incidents.

Ellis added that students also will have gained experience in teamwork and living in close quarters. “I think it’s a lesson in interpersonal skills,” said Ellis, who was a live-in student himself while studying in New Hampshire.

When Ellis discusses the program with area fire chiefs, he tells them that once they try it, “they’ll wonder how they ever existed without it.” He acknowledged, however, that the program is a Band-Aid approach to the chronic shortage of manpower.

“It’s hard to recruit and retain volunteers,” said Ellis. Twenty-five years ago, most people worked in or near the town they lived in. “Now, we live in a very mobile society.”