POCAHONTAS, AR. Dec. 11—BRTC’s Firefighter Essentials class has been celebrating success all semester. “I am proud to say that we have had a very successful semester,” reports Alan Haskins, Black River Technical College Fire Science instructor.
Students enrolled in the Firefighter Essentials program, Class 2020B, passed Emergency Medical Responder course with a 100% pass rate, the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management’s Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations state exam with a 100% pass rate, and the Arkansas Forestry Commission’s Wildland Fire Operations with a 100% pass rate.
The class recently finished up the program by taking the Arkansas State Fire Academy’s Minimum Standards Exams which consisted of a hands-on, job performance requirements exam, a Team Burn, a FEATS Test, and Physical Agility Test. The pass rate was 100%. Students also took the written Firefighter 1 and Firefighter 2 exam, and 70% passed the first attempt. The rest of the students will retake the written exam soon, and Haskins is confident the pass rate will be 100%. Haskins added, “This is great news for BRTC and this program.”
Fire Science courses will be offered face-to-face and online during the upcoming spring 2021 semester. For more information, contact Alan Haskins at Alan.Haskins@blackrivertech.edu or (870) 248-4000, ext. 4129 or visit https://blackrivertech.org/academics/service-programs/fire-training.