Valley high school students graduate with firefighter training

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- More than a dozen local high school students graduated from Wildland Firefighter training Friday.

The training is part of a program offered by Valley ROP at Reedley College.

Students join from all over the Central Valley and work with instructors who have years worth of knowledge and training.

By the time students complete the program, they walk away with 7.5 college units and six national fire-fighting certificates.

"We put them through what a wildlife firefighter is going to be and the work they're going to do, some of them love it, some of them just want to be structure firefighters, but when they come out of here they're ready to go," Rodnie Roberts with the program said. "They've been trained, they're ready to think on their feet."

Administrators say the program does not guarantee employment, but this year every graduate walked away with a job.