Photo caption: Forty-one new SMCC students will live and work at area fire stations while enrolled as full-time students during the 2016-17 academic year. In preparation for the live-in program, the new students will develop basic firefighting and EMS skills during a three-week Summer Fire Academy that begins Aug. 8. This photo shows the 2015 live-in students during last year’s Fire Academy in Falmouth.
A record-high 93 Southern Maine Community College students, including 41 new students, will serve as live-in students at fire stations in area communities for the 2016-17 academic year.
Students who participate in SMCC’s live-in program receive fire-rescue and emergency medical services training and live and work at fire stations while enrolled as full-time Fire Science, Paramedicine and Criminal Justice students at SMCC.
Of the overall total, 41 are new students enrolled at SMCC for the first time. That, too, is a record-high number of first-year students taking part in the live-in program.
Now in its 27th year, the program started with just six students — two each at the South Portland, Gorham and Scarborough fire departments. This year’s participants will serve at 31 fire-EMS stations in 17 communities stretching from Kennebunk in the south to Topsham in the east to as far inland as Raymond.
“This program is a partnership between our students, our partner communities and the college,” said Steve Willis, chairman of SMCC’s Fire Science program. “Students receive valuable career experience, education and training opportunities, and economic benefits. Participating communities benefit from well-trained and enthusiastic student employees. The college benefits by having students gain in-the-field experience to apply their academic knowledge.”
In preparation for the live-in program, the 41 new students will go through orientation and develop basic firefighting and EMS skill sets during a three-week Summer Fire Academy that begins Aug. 8. The academy takes place at fire department facilities in Falmouth, Yarmouth and Cumberland.
The new students come from across Maine and six other states. As live-in students, they will respond to emergencies and assist with fire prevention and public education programs in area communities.