There was a time in the not-too-distant past when there was little connection between firefighting and higher education. Firefighters trained for the profession in local academies or on the job. Though there were a few fire science programs available in the 1960s, very few went to college to become firefighters.
All that has changed in a big way. Today, there are more than 900 colleges and universities in the U.S. that offer fire science degree programs, each unique to their area and institution.
An innovative approach to fire science education
One such innovative program is operated through Valencia College, based in Orange County, Florida. A fire science program existed at the institution in the 1970s, but ended in the late 1990s, according to Daniel Diehl, director of fire science and EMS. The current program premiered in 2013 with five full-time staff members, including Diehl, and has only flourished since then.
What makes the Valencia College program unique among some other fire science programs is its cohort model for participants. While many fire science programs focus on providing higher education and degree opportunities for existing firefighters, Valencia decided to take a different approach. Valencia began focusing its fire science program on high school graduates and those recently separated from the military. Modeled after a similar curriculum at Indian River College in Florida, graduates of the two-year Valencia program earn a fire science degree, EMT certification, Firefighter I and II, Inspector I certification and driver/operator certification. Even the general education subjects are geared toward emergency response.
“We ask the [general education] teachers to structure their assignments based on emergency management and the fire service,” Diehl said. “The math teacher tries to give them hydraulic problems. The English teacher has a background in post-traumatic stress. We try to make it as focused on the career as possible.”
Participants in the cohort program apply for one of 30 slots. Once accepted, a second application asks applicants for their motivation and goals for the program and includes an in-person interview as part of the process. For any given cohort group, participants are selected from among 50-60 applicants.
The program is promoted through the college outreach division, which coordinates with local high schools. Representatives attend several career fairs each year and meet with high school counselors at an annual regional conference. Diehl also recently partnered with the Valenica College dean of Arts and Entertainment to produce short video interviews with program graduates who are currently working in the field, highlighting how the Valencia program helped to prepare them for the job, which will be disseminated via social media.
Diehl is also gathering data from fire departments about graduates’ experiences so the program can continue to innovate to meet the needs of students and their future fire departments.
A personal tragedy fuels push for safety education
Diehl has a personal connection to Valencia College. He graduated from that institution with an associate degree in 1974 before he got his first job as a part-time paid-on-call firefighter in Orange County. When he retired from the Atlanta Fire Department after a 28-year career in 2008, an opportunity emerged for him to return to Florida to work with the resurgent fire science program at the college. He has been the director of that program since 2013.
But Diehl’s commitment to higher education goes deeper than that. He originally became a firefighter because he needed a job to support a young family, believing he didn’t need to attend college to fight fires: “The first time I crawled into a burning building, I said to hell with college. This is what I want to do,” he said.
But that attitude changed years later when, as a lieutenant on the Atlanta Fire Department, a colleague and friend was killed in a structural collapse. That event tested his commitment to his profession.
“I prayed about it and I slept on it, and the next day I said, it’s time to go back to college,” he said.
That shift led to his associate degree in fire science, a bachelor’s degree in organizational management and a master’s degree in homeland security. Prior to his friend’s line-of-duty death, Diehl said his primary motivator on the job was “adrenaline.” But after the loss of his friend, his mission changed to “make sure I went home in the morning in the same condition I got to work, and make sure my crew did too.”
Opportunities to teach just expanded that mission: “I wanted to make sure that everyone I connected with went home after every shift.”
The mission statement of the Valencia College Fire/Rescue Institute highlights innovation as a hallmark of the program, something Diehl values.
“Innovation is how we stay safe and superior,” he said. “If we’re not constantly getting better, we won’t be able to do that. We’re always trying new things.”
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