Minnesota high school students get hands-on on training for fire fighting

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – There are many pathways a students can take following graduation, and on Saturday, Rochester Fire Department showed them firefighting could be one of those choices.

RFD has a program where high school students can get real world experience in their line of work. Students from all over the state were in Rochester today to see what it’s all about.

“It got started as an idea to get the word out as to what we do and get some people involved,” RFD Captain Kathryn Yetter said. “It’s another outreach program it never hurts to reach different groups to get them interested in this position in what we actually do. I think it gives people a better idea instead of just hearing about it, they actually to have the hands on and see if they like it or they don’t like it.”

On Saturday, students focused on search and rescue, ventilation and roof cutting drills.

This along with the rest of the program is the experience they will need to gain Minnesota state certifications for firefighting.

“When I was in high school, we had the explorer program, which is a similar idea. you get to see behind the scenes, what people do, and it helps to have an idea, if you’re interested or not. because then you would’ve put all your eggs in one basket. you get to try things because you’re still young, so, this is a great opportunity for people to do that,” Yetter said.

Saturday was day three out of seven for the semester long program, which is a mix of virtual, classroom and hands on learning.

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