A new firefighting academy for high school students was announced by the town of Chapel Hill on Monday. The town is contributing a fire truck, one of their two 2000 or 2001 International/KME pumpers, which will be dedicated in a ceremony at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

Below is their press release. See also this Chapel Hill News story from December.

High school students interested in community safety careers have a new training opportunity, thanks to a partnership among the Chapel Hill Fire Department, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Career and Technical Education (CTE) department and Durham Technical Community College.

A new Firefighting Academy, housed at Chapel Hill High School, will offer students from across the district classes beginning their sophomore year. They will earn credit toward an associate’s degree as well as a certification.

During their senior year, these students have the opportunity to enroll in the EMT (emergency medical technician) component of the Public Safety Academy.  With the successful completion of both program requirements, the students will be eligible for employment as professional firefighters upon high school graduation.

The Chapel Hill Fire Department has donated a fire truck to the new program. The dedication ceremony will take place at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 8. Chapel Hill Training Chief Keith Porterfield and Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger will present the deed title to the truck to CHCCS Superintendent Pam Baldwin and Board Chair James Barrett.

Following the ceremony, students in the program will be on hand to demonstrate the equipment and to entertain discussions about their work.