HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — High school students at the Firefighters Academy in Harlingen completed a state certified live fire training course to prepare for becoming a firefighter.
The course involved firefighting skills, techniques and strategies to extinguish fires.
“This is their final exam, basically, for their certification and for the Texas Commission on Fire Protection for the firefighter program here in Harlingen,” Chris Armstrong, Fire Academy Coordinator for Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District said.
Students who completed the live fire training will be given the opportunity to take their state exam to be certified within Texas as a basic firefighter.
“It’s an amazing program with instructors that love and care for you,” Esteban Gonzalez, Fire Academy student said. “I’m hoping to get the certification by the end of this class… and hopefully be a firefighter in the Air Force.”
“These are things that you normally can’t do in high school, but we get this awesome opportunity to be coming out with these guys, these firefighters, you know, years on the job,” Aaron Gaitan, President of the Fire Academy said. “If you want to do this, do it. This is a this is a career for people who love what they do.”