Palm Bay Magnet High School Students Get Introduction of Fire Academy at the Brevard County Fire Rescue Drill Yard

By  //  March 27, 2023

Fire Academy program at Palm Bay Magnet High School is in its first-year of instruction

Palm Bay Magnet High School Fire Academy instructor Lt. Chet Bombriant recently took his class on a field trip to the Brevard County Fire Rescue Drill Yard. While there, the students were able to watch new recruits perform a training exercise using a Burn Building, which is a multi-level live fire training simulator configured out of metal shipping containers in which firefighters can practice staging, entry techniques, and search and rescue techniques. (BPS image)

BREVARD COUNTY • PALM BAY, FLORIDA – Palm Bay Magnet High School Fire Academy instructor Lt. Chet Bombriant recently took his class on a field trip to the Brevard County Fire Rescue Drill Yard.

While there, the students were able to watch new recruits perform a training exercise using a Burn Building, which is a multi-level live fire training simulator configured out of metal shipping containers in which firefighters can practice staging, entry techniques, and search and rescue techniques.

After the simulation was over, the students took a tour of the Burn Building.

The goal of the field trip was to give students a glimpse into the fire academy and what it takes to be a firefighter.

The Fire Academy program at Palm Bay Magnet High School is in its first year of instruction. The course is available to students from 9th to 12th grade, but only grades 10th to 12th undergo hands-on firefighting training.

The course for 9th-grade students focuses more on comprehensive fitness to build muscular strength and endurance for the strenuous activities firefighters often endure.

Palm Bay Magnet HS Fire Academy instructor Lt. Chet Bombriant took his class on a field trip to the Brevard County Fire Rescue Drill Yard. (BPS image)

WATCH: The Fire Academy program at Palm Bay Magnet High School is in its first year of instruction. The course is available to students from 9th to 12th grade, but only grades 10th to 12th undergo hands-on firefighting training. The course for 9th-grade students focuses more on comprehensive fitness to build muscular strength and endurance for the strenuous activities firefighters often endure.

“Students can get trained for Firefighter 1 and be eligible to test for Firefighter 1 once they graduate and go through their live-fire training and everything, which puts them directly on the path to becoming a paid career firefighter with whatever organization that hires them on,” said BCFR District Chief of Training Mike DiStefano.

DiStefano went on to say, “If you’re motivated and you want to do this job, you’re going to be fantastic at it. Firefighter is by far the best job on the planet. There’s no doubt about it. It is the best job on the planet.

“We are giving Bevard County residents that go to high school here scholarships to go to EMT and fire school that would like to work for Bevard County Fire Rescue. Make sure you’re 100% committed to the job,” said BCFR’s Mike DiStefano. (BPS image)

“We are giving Bevard County residents that go to high school here scholarships to go to EMT and fire school that would like to work for Bevard County Fire Rescue. Make sure you’re 100% committed to the job.

“It is a daunting task. It is very physically demanding. There are always new techniques and new developments happening weekly daily. It’s up to you and it’s self-motivated to continue to improve your skills and your job knowledge about the job,” said Kristen Lies with Brevard County Fire Rescue.

“It is very physically demanding. There are always new techniques and new developments happening weekly daily. It’s up to you and it’s self-motivated to continue to improve your skills and your job knowledge about the job,” said DiStefano.

Palm Bay Magnet High School principal Jud Kaminsky the Firefighting CTE Program is going to feature hands-on experience and the program is currently in the design phase.

“We are building lots of both classroom and lab environments here for Palm Bay Magnet High School,” said Kaminsky.

“Our students are going to have the opportunity to work directly with firefighters from the community that actually serve Bevard County.

“The main goal of our program is basically to support and recruit individuals that potentially might want to pursue a career in firefighting and that kind of related service.

“It’s going to give the opportunity for students to not have to wait until College to actually start experiencing some of these things and to get involved at an earlier age and make a decision whether this is something that they might want to be involved in.

“We’re just excited to have the opportunity here at Palm Bay Magnet High School. We think that it’s going to be a unique program.

“It’s the only one, as I mentioned in Brevard Public Schools, and it’s going to provide and fill a void that has existed in BPS for the student opportunity, and I think a lot of the students are going to be excited about the options, and I think that it’s going a very fulfilling experience for any students who choose to go that route,” said Kaminsky.

” I think a lot of the students are going to be excited about the options, and I think that it’s going a very fulfilling experience for any students who choose to go that route,” said PBMHS Principal Kaminsky (BPS image)
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