Melissa Navas
The Oregonian
Copyright 2007 The Oregonian
All Rights Reserved
FOREST GROVE, Ore. — The roof was in flames. The fire hoses were unrolled and aimed. But the Forest Grove Fire & Rescue high school cadets let the house burn.
And that’s exactly what they were supposed to do.
As part of their classwork, the 11 cadets — all Forest Grove High School juniors and seniors — circled the donated home as smoke billowed and orange flames leaped. Their objective: get acquainted with a live fire for the first time, hear it speak in pops and crackles, feel its heat.
If the students decide to become firefighters, they just received their first glimpse of what the job is really like.
But the yearlong program — a rarity among Oregon high schools — faces an uncertain future.
A Forest Grove public safety levy that helps pay the salary of the program’s instructor was rejected by voters in November.
If the Forest Grove class is extinguished, future students won’t share the experience high school junior Tiffany Douglas encountered Friday — a lesson she won’t forget.
“My face was just burning,” said Douglas, 16. “It’s like your hair is melting away.”
The Forest Grove High cadets are part of a program to teach high school students the same material that firefighters are taught under National Fire Protection Association standards. The material is usually introduced at the community college level, said Laura Roach, an Oregon Department of Education specialist.
After the public safety levy’s failure, Forest Grove is expected to make about $760,000 in cuts each year for the next two years, or 11 percent of its budget, City Manager Michael Sykes said. City leaders have opted to put another public safety levy on the May special election ballot, in the meantime, though, the city is in a hiring freeze.
Staff cuts could mean the course’s teacher, fire inspector David Nemeyer, will be reassigned to other work.
Nemeyer said he hopes the cadet program isn’t axed because of its value to students.
“Not all of these kids are going to go to college,” Nemeyer said. “Vocational programs are going to give them a lot of ideas of career options and things they can do after high school.”
John O’Neill, Forest Grove High School principal, said the Forest Grove School District, which pays for the course books and equipment, is only in the early stages of planning next year’s budget. He said the program is highly regarded among students.
“We would definitely hate to see it be cut for our students,” O’Neill said. “At this point, it’s too early in the budget process to even say that it’s up for being cut or not.”
Since the program began in 2001, about 65 students have participated. They attend 90-minute classes at the fire department every other day. Material covered includes fire behavior, ventilation and fire hose operations.
Cadets interested in the field who are 18 can apply for volunteer positions in Forest Grove or study fire science in college.
The program has created a funnel for former cadets to work at the fire department. Ten of its 50 volunteers are former cadets, Nemeyer said.
One of those volunteers is Ben Langbehn, a resident volunteer firefighter, who spent two years as a cadet in high school before graduating in 2003. “Without the cadet program I don’t know where I’d be at as far as a career,” said Langbehn, who is applying for firefighter jobs. “It definitely headed me down the right path.”
Not all students find firefighting is for them. Cayla Vandyke, 17, stands at 5-foot-1 and said she is considering becoming a teacher because the heavy equipment is difficult to carry. An upcoming exercise will require cadets to drag a 200-pound dummy.
“I don’t even think I’ll be able to lift its arm,” she said.
Even if students don’t go into the profession, Nemeyer said he hopes they leave the program smarter about fire safety.
“Here are kids who will have the ability to go out and live safely in the community,” he said. “And that makes our jobs easier as firefighters.”