Braden Jordison nervously climbed a ladder before sliding through a window to practice saving someone from a fire.

Ramona High School and several other students — outfitted in hard jackets, helmets and heavy boots — focused on their teacher’s instructions for a real-life search-and-rescue operation.

Drills like these, along with learning how to break down walls and doors and how to carry ladders and hoses, prepare him to one day deal with dangerous firefighting incidents, he said.

“We can learn a lot and it’s not just written in a classroom,” said the 15-year-old. “Practical stuff helps with learning and getting it in your head.”

Jordison said he has always been interested in becoming a first responder, but is undecided about whether he wants to become a police officer, join the military or join the fire department. And so far, his experiences in Ramona High’s new Fire Technology program have provided more useful information than he expected, he said.

“This class seemed like a good opportunity and I took it,” Jordison just before climbing out the school window. “It was a lot of fun. I plan to attend a fire academy and take the EMT (emergency medical technician) course at Palomar College.”

Ramona High School Fire Technology student Rayce Chapp learns how to enter a building through a window. (Stephanie Ogilvie)

Sierra McGowin, a Fire Technology student at Ramona High School, learns to use her ax to climb out of a window in a building. (Stephanie Ogilvie)

Firefighter Gilberto Villegas teaches Ramona High School Fire Technology students Malcolm Harris and Cameron Lussier proper interior search methods, which are used to search for victims. (Stephanie Ogilvie)

Capt. Greg Mowat teaches a group of Fire Technology students at Ramona High School how to use thermal imaging cameras, called TICS, to search for victims in dark conditions. (Stephanie Ogilvie)

Thermal imaging cameras (TICS) are used to locate victims in dark conditions. (Stephanie Ogilvie)

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Ramona High School Fire Technology student Rayce Chapp learns how to enter a building through a window. (Stephanie Ogilvie)

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Audrey Seiver, 17, said she is taking the Fire Technology course to obtain firefighter training for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Seiver said he hopes to one day become involved in the Coast Guard’s law enforcement and drug interdiction activities. The Coast Guard could offer a lot of different types of employment opportunities, and the firefighting lessons will prepare her for the training requirements of the ships, she said.

“I think this course is amazing,” Seiver said. “It was very helpful and insightful for firefighter work. We learned a lot about hoses, how to carry ladders. Right now we are learning search and rescue procedures.”

Robert Charlton, assistant principal at Ramona High, said the Fire Technology program is a two-year pathway in the school’s Career Technical Education (CTE) Program. The program currently includes four courses — Fire Technology 1, 2 and a summer course in addition to an EME 105 class that Ramona High students can take online through Palomar College. The path is titled Public Emergency Response Service.

The program has 27 students in its introductory semester class who will advance to the sophomore level class next semester, Charlton said. The introductory class will be offered again next school year, he said.

“It’s been great,” Charlton said of the new campus program. “Students love it. They learn so much. There is a lot of Cal Fire support with the firefighters training them and showing them the pieces.

“We had to tell the neighbors, just because you see a fire truck on campus doesn’t mean there’s a problem,” he said.

Charlton said the idea to have Fire Technology as part of the CTE program came from Cal Fire, which often fights fires in San Diego’s East County areas. Cal Fire officials thought it would be a good idea to train Ramona students so they could be prepared for a fire academy education and eventually be hired to staff a fire station in East County, he said.

Last school year, several meetings were held between Superintendent Ramona Antoinette Rodriguez, Cal Fire personnel and other district members to plan the types of courses to be taught and their sequence, organize a curriculum, determine equipment and facilities also needed to identify instructors. .

Leading the class this year is Cal Fire/San Diego County Fire Captain Josh Hill, who has worked for Cal Fire for 21 years.

Hill said students will learn both structure fire and wildland fire skills. Structure firefighting lessons involve learning about the different types of hose loads, how to load hoses on and off a fire engine, how to set up ladders, make forcible entry, how to attack a structure fire and deploy search and rescue operations. For wildfires, students will learn how to work with groups, cut a hand line, lay hoses, use heavy equipment and how to initially extinguish a fire.

Students spend four days each week learning about the trade. The first two days of the week are spent on classroom instruction, and the second day is action-packed skills training, he said.

“There’s been good engagement and they’re interested in finding out what’s going on,” Hill said.

The instruction was supplemented with guest speakers including a bulldozer operator, fire prevention officer, air attack pilot, US Forest Service battalion chief and personnel from the Ramona Fire Departments 8th Battalion, a he said.

After completing the Fire Technology program, students can get jobs as a firefighter 1, county reserve firefighter or Forest Service technician, he said.

“This can give students an understanding of the fire service and they can learn industry terminology and technology,” Hill said. “The course can guide them to help them decide if this is the path they want to take.”

Cal Fire/San Diego County Fire Capt. Robert Johnson, who was taking pictures at a recent Ramona High School activity-based class, said high school graduates sometimes end up at fire academies hosted at local colleges and agencies. firefighters.

The Fire Tech program gives students an opportunity to learn about what the job entails and then they can decide if it’s right for them, Johnson said.

“It also allows them to talk to local instructors and firefighters so they can hear about their personal experiences,” he said. “While the overall goal is to pursue a career as a firefighter, there are several paths to getting there. There is no single set algorithm. Some students take different courses at different times, but the goal is to get a job in the career field.”