Fire Rescue Academy Recruitment Underway for Next School Year

The South Alberta Fire Academy held an open house at the Cypress County Firehall in Dunmore during the evening of Wednesday, February 7th. Two current students in the Fire Academy at Eagle Butte High School spoke about their experiences to those gathered.  

Judah Kurpjuweit knew he wanted to be a firefighter following graduation in June of 2023 but was initially disappointed he would miss out on attending the South Alberta Fire Academy, which Prairie Rose Public Schools (PRPS) launched in September 2023. All was not lost and Kurpjuweit was able to attend the Academy as a returning senior. 

The most memorable day so far has been the HAZMAT testing day where the students were presented with multiple situations they had to inspect and control. “It was very interesting because all the instructors were hands off and allowing us to inspect and observe to figure out how to deal with each situation. It is my favourite memory thus far because it’s when my classmates became a team,” explained Kurpjuweit. 

The most challenging aspect of attending the Fire Academy is the amount of information the students need to learn, including fire dynamics, HAZMAT, and required personal protective equipment (PPE). “There is a certain pressure that comes with it because it’s a college-level course. I see that as a good thing, the pressure of it, because we all build with each other. It’s lots to take on so it creates this environment that’s heavily impacted by teamwork in the best of ways.” 

Grade 11 student Rachel Sylvester is known as one of the hardest working students at the academy. She was a late comer to the program and didn’t start until the end of September 2023.  

“I realized I didn’t have a career path and I was looking at the academy the year before and thought it was cool but had lots of discouragement from my family who said it was too dangerous,” explained Sylvester. “They are very supportive now because they see how much I love it.” 

The academic aspects of the program are not as challenging for Sylvester as they are for other students. She admits there is lots of information that needs to be learned on top of regular schoolwork and being organized is important.  

“We aren’t far enough into the year to have started the firefighter training because we took our HAZMAT course first. We’ve gone into the gym to workout to tone and build up for what’s coming in Firefighter 1,” said Sylvester when asked about the physical demands of the program.  

The PPE is restrictive, heavy and not pleasant to put on explained Sylvester, but it makes one looks cool and helps keep the person wearing it alive. “I’m ready for anything that is coming, my willpower is stronger than my actual power,” concluded Sylvester. 

Registration into the upcoming year of the Eagle Butte Fire Academy opened at the beginning of February and there are already five students signed up. Eagle Butte will be accepting new students each year while the Senator Gershaw Fire Academy in Bow Island will accept students every two years as it’s a smaller school. Senator Gershaw opens up their Fire Academy for Grades 10 through 12 whereas at Eagle Butte only Grade 11 and 12 students can apply for the program.  

“When we looked at it, because of the number of students we have at Eagle Butte and the proximity to Medicine Hat, we’ve always thought there was an opportunity to run two classes of 12 students, which was our goal in the first two years,” stated Assistant Superintendent Boyd Craven.  

PRPS is always looking to improve each of the academies they run and are continually learning, with respect to the Fire Academy, with Cypress County on how best to offer the program so the students can get the most out of it.  

“We will continue to do that in the second semester with the goal of trying to have a two-year program that continuously turns out a consistent number of volunteer firefighters for the County and provides an educational opportunity for students to have a pathway to a career,” continued Craven.  

One of the tweaks made this year was altering the schedule of the Fire Academy. Originally, students were in the classroom from Monday to Wednesday and spending time at the firehall on Thursdays and Fridays. Many of the students in the program are also student athletes and missed several Fridays due to tournaments and championship games.  

“The boys volleyball team got really successful, they were in a tournament, then zones followed by making it to provincials and missed some Fridays,” explained Craven. “A simple change was made and we turned Friday into a classroom day and Wednesday and Thursday became the onsite sessions.”  

Moving forward, one of the areas being looked at for Eagle Butte are the logistics of having two Fire Academy classes running throughout the year and exploring unique ways where the two groups can work together at times.  

“One of the other things that is exciting is we had one of the parents ask how many girls we have participating in the program,” concluded Craven. “We have five right now out of 20 between the two schools, so a quarter of our students. One thing we’ve always wanted to do with all the programs is have equity and opportunity for everyone.” 

More information about the South Alberta Fire Academy can be found at https://www.myprps.com/south-alberta-fire-rescue-academy.  

 By Samantha Johnson, Prairie Rose Public Schools Content Writer