University students get credit to fight fires

“I think what a lot of students don’t realize is that college kids are the firefighters that show up when a student burns their popcorn in the dorms,” Deputy Chief Christopher DeGrave, who is in charge of training volunteers, said.  

The University of Rhode Island’s Fire Department responds to 800-900 calls a year, both on campus and in the surrounding area of South Kingstown, and almost all of those firefighters are volunteers, many of whom are or were students at URI.

The Kingston Volunteer Fire Company offers college credit to student volunteers once they complete their training, and according to DeGrave it is no easy task. The volunteers must complete over a thousand hours of training, which generally takes ten months starting from scratch, and then another six to nine months to drive the trucks, which each requires different training.  

The program offers free residency to students who qualify once fully trained. DeGrave mentioned that about six or seven current URI students take advantage of this opportunity and are living at the station. He said that the biggest character traits he sees in the student volunteers are those of dedication and commitment. A large part of their time is spent helping other people; “They put their own lives after someone else’s,” DeGrave said.  

Donald Seymour, a URI sophomore living at the fire station, said that his favorite part of being a volunteer for the fire department was being able to help people.

During a recent Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and Fire Department (FD) drill, both programs joined together to respond to an organized accident. The separate groups worked on individual issues. EMS responding to the victims themselves and the firefighters worked on both securing the safety of the scene and the victims. The drill involved split-second decision-making with the safety of all, including the firefighters, being the most important consideration. From the time of the volunteers arrival on the scene to the time the last “victim” was taken away, the production took 44 minutes.

DeGrave mentioned that the station was always open to new members of all fire education levels.

“Some of the volunteers who walk in here have never seen a truck, and others have a history of firefighting going back five generations,” DeGrave said.

Many of URI’s firefighters have gone on to do big things in bigger departments. The South Kingstown Fire Department is recognized nationally, and therefore the volunteer’s “opportunities are endless because of [the] connections” that being in the department provides, DeGrave explained. Past students have joined the military, full time fire departments; such as the NYCFD, and high-profile government jobs.

For more information on the URI Fire Department, visit their website at http://www.kingstonfire.net/  or visit the fire station right next to the Fine Arts Center parking lot.