Campbell Fire/Rescue trains next generation with real-life scenarios

As many people wind down on a Monday night, the junior firefighters of Campbell County are gearing up—literally—for smoke-filled drills in the dark.

At Campbell Fire/Rescue Station 12, located at 1050 Racetrack Road in Alexandria, training starts at 7:30 p.m. and typically runs until 9 p.m., followed by a group dinner. The junior firefighter program is for 15- to 17-year-olds, and internship and volunteer opportunities are also available for adults.

The junior firefighter program is intended to be a precursor to the Campbell County Area Technology Center’s Fire Science Program, which is only open to high school juniors and seniors.

A semi-trailer with a built-in self-contained breathing apparatus confidence course sits at the back of the station. The course is a training program designed to help firefighters develop confidence and proficiency in using self-contained breathing apparatus equipment (the tank of air firefighters wear on their backs) in challenging or stressful situations.

Campbell Fire/Rescue Lieutenant Mark Combs is the department’s recruiting and retention coordinator.

“Whenever you go into a structure fire, even with flashlights, there’s not much visibility,” Combs said. “What we want people to do is to be able to train-there’ll be times they’ll actually get you tangled up on purpose, and you have to be able to untangle yourself. You just basically have to know how to take this (breathing apparatus) off and put it back on with low visibility.”

The junior firefighters, interns and volunteers are geared up and on air. The course is pitch black inside, with smoke wafting through to imitate fire conditions in a building. The trailer walls are narrow, and obstacles like slick ramps and wires are placed inside. Crews of two or three help one another at a time.

Once one crew makes it out of the course, the next one goes in, and so on until training ends.

Owen Allen and Jackson Schabell were part of the first graduating fire science class at the area technology school in 2024. They were also part of the junior firefighter program with Campbell Fire/Rescue.

Allen, a Campbell County High School graduate, has worked with the department since he was 15 and was hired about four months ago. Schabell, a Bishop Brossart High School graduate, has worked with the department since he was 16 and is currently enrolled at Eastern Kentucky University for fire protection and safety engineering technologies.

“It was awesome,” Schabell said. “I wouldn’t be going to Eastern if I hadn’t joined the fire department.”

Before the training kicks off for the evening, Owen and Allen begin “pulling duty” on the fire trucks. Pulling duty refers to going through each compartment of the trucks to ensure that things like chainsaws and fans have gasoline and all the tools are ready to go whenever the firefighters need to go.

The trailer’s outside reads, “Boone County Fire Chiefs Association.” Combs said the department works closely with Kenton and Boone Counties and is part of district seven for the Kentucky Fire Commission. Those counties are Bracken, Boone, Campbell, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, Owen and Pendleton. The regional fire school for that district is located in Burlington.

Combs said students from Pendleton County to Campbell County to Cooper High School attend the Monday night training.

As of records from July 2024, Combs has approximately 18 junior firefighters, 19 interns, and a volunteer base ages 18 up to 72 that he works with.

Though the fire department isn’t new to the area, some recent mergers and a name change are new.

The Alexandria and Southern Campbell Fire Districts merged to form the Campbell Fire/Rescue District in March 2024. About a year later, the Campbell County Fire District 1 area was annexed and overtaken by the Campbell Fire/Rescue District in March. The district covers about 70 square miles.

Combs said they average 30 people per training session.

He said it’s important to intercept these students before they graduate from high school because they are already getting boots-on-the-ground training and deciding if it’s a career they want to pursue.

“I think this type of event, Monday night training, if they get a window, hey, this is available, I think there’s more fruition of this type of thing than maybe some of the job fairs,” Combs said.

The station’s interns receive tuition in exchange for service. The program starts at age 18, but Combs said the department’s oldest intern is 32. Interns can earn up to $5,000 in scholarships per semester, plus $650 toward books. All of their personal protective equipment and uniforms are provided.

Drew Lense is part of the internship program. She started taking fire science classes while attending Cooper High School and has been involved in programming since she was 16.

“I didn’t actually go to high school my senior year,” Lense said. “Instead, I went to [fire science] classes all day. So, when I got here [station 12], I had almost finished all my requirements to be on the fire ground.”

Another department intern, Emma Record, said she attends NKU as an exercise science major. She wants to get her EMT license for resume purposes, so she joined the program at age 20, and it helps pay for part of her tuition. Intern Brieanna Sweasy attends Gateway Community and Technical College’s EMT program and joined the department’s intern program at age 19 to help with her tuition.

Lense advises others considering the fire service for their career to attend the fire science classes offered through local high schools if they are available.

“Go to the fire science programs at your high schools because it really helps you if you want this career,” she said. “Now I don’t have to go through fire recruit class. I just skipped that whole thing.”

Those interested in joining the junior firefighters’ program can contact Combs at mcombs@cfrky.org.