By Jason M. Rodriguez
The Sun News (Myrtle Beach)

BRUNSWICK, N.C. — Hunter Griggs has aspirations of becoming a video game designer or a computer programmer, but the 17-year-old West Brunswick High School student is making sure he has firefighting experience as a backup plan.

"It's like a horizon spanner," Griggs said of a first-year firefighting course being offered through Brunswick County Schools in conjunction with Brunswick Community College and area fire departments. "I have two volunteer firefighters in my family. I don't think I'll get into it full time, but volunteering would still be fine."

That's precisely the attitude organizers of the program were looking for when they offered the class this year.

"We've got a need," said Bobby Carmon, coordinator of fire rescue training for Brunswick Community College, about the low number of volunteers and young firefighters in the area. "We're running low on volunteers."

About a year and a half ago, Carmon met with Brunswick County Emergency Services officials as well as Les Tubb, director of career and technical education for Brunswick schools, to discuss the need for more volunteer firefighters. The group came up with the concept to catch the attention of teenagers and spark their interest in emergency services careers. The first field they chose to introduce the students to was firefighting.

The N.C. Department of Public Instruction is currently working on putting together a program similar to this one that will be implemented statewide. "Brunswick County would love to be on the leading edge of that pilot program," Tubb said. "I just see it continuing to blossom."

The program is being conducted at North Brunswick High School and West Brunswick High School. Classes meet twice a week a couple of hours after school ends in order to give students an opportunity to do their homework and to give area instructors a chance to get there after work.

National Fire Standards prevent students under the age of 18 from performing some hands-on training that would allow them to become fully certified firefighters by the end of the course. However, the 96 credit hours the underage students are eligible to receive can be used to obtain that certificate, which takes 135 hours to complete.

The students participating in the class have become junior firefighters, which helps cover the students for insurance purposes.

Dustin Hunter, 17, of Shallotte, said his mother was a dispatcher for the Brunswick County Sheriff's Office and his father volunteered for the Ocean Isle Beach Fire Department, as well.

"I'd always go to the communication complex and whenever I was in there, it was always busy," Hunter said. "I always figured I'd get into something with high stakes and something that would give me an adrenaline rush."

Organizers are struggling with attendance for the program because of spring sports.

The program started earlier this year with 12 students at both high schools. It is now down to nine.

Both Tubb and Carmon said they hope the attendance issue will be addressed if and when North Carolina makes the program an elective in its standard curriculum.

"Once we get to where we pull the state in to the concept, then we're going to be challenged to hire a full-time instructor," Tubb said.

Until then, students like Griggs will enjoy the opportunity they get to explore another option for their future.

"Yes it takes three hours of your time," he said of the two 1 1/2 -hour sessions per week, "but I say it's well worth it."

Copyright 2008 The Sun News