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By Captain Mark Grow, Lakeside Fire District
originally published at Heartland Zone News
January 24, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- On January19th, the Tom Owen Training Facility, in cooperation with Miramar College, kicked off the 20th Heartland Fire Academy.
Heartland has a long academy tradition dating back to the the mid-1970's. Originally coordinated as part of the Joint Powers Authority, the Heartland Training Academy served as the primary training facility for most of the agencies in the east county. Recently Heartland has teamed up with the San Diego Community College District (through the Miramar Campus) to hold academies at the facility.
Heartland has a long academy tradition dating back to the mid-1970's. Originally coordinated as part of the Joint Powers Authority, the Heartland Training Academy served as the primary training facility for most agencies in East County. Recently Heartland has teamed up with the San Diego Community College District (through the Miramar Campus) to hold academies at the facility.
This year's academy has benefited by the return of retired Fire Chief Rich Henry (El Cajon), who brings years of suppression and emergency medical experience with him. Teamed up with training officers from El Cajon, La Mesa, Lakeside, and San Miguel, the students have access to years of field experience. The academy is based on the passing of skills from experienced field personnel to aspiring firefighters. Another key element of the academy is to develop coordinated teamwork, essential to the emergency services.
The 518 hour academy started with 28 students, but with the academic and physical rigors, there are 25 remaining. Within this group, three are already employed by local fire agencies and the rest are either reserves or pre-employment students.
Attending an academy is mandatory for most fire agencies, and in some cases, is a requirement to apply for employment. The academy is intended to teach students basic fundamental skills. Most firefighters and students continue on to learn specialized skills such as vehicle extrication, rescue systems, and in some cases paramedic training.
This academy is the third held jointly between Heartland and the SDCCD. The staff hopes to conduct annual academies well into the future to help meet the demand for trained applicants throughout the region.
If you have interest in enrolling in a future academy you can obtain information at the Heartland Training Facility website , or at the Miramar College website.
This academy will be holding its graduation at the El Cajon Performing Arts Center on April 26th.
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