Selma High senior gains hands-on experience through paid fire department internship

SELMA, Calif. (KFSN) -- While many students take on summer jobs, one Selma High School soon-to-be senior is spending her break preparing for a future in emergency services through a hands-on internship with the Selma Fire Department.

Nevaeh Sandoval-Avila may not be a full-time firefighter yet, but she is already learning the skills needed for the role through a two-week program that places students alongside firefighters and paramedics.

"They've allowed me to get very hands-on, and I've enjoyed that," Sandoval-Avila said.

Her preparation began in Selma High's Urban Rural Fire class, where she learned essential skills used by first responders, including medical response techniques.

"There was the stop the bleed, the CPR ones, we went over childbirth," she said.

The class is taught by retired Assistant Fire Chief Larry Roberts, who provides students with the opportunity to apply for the internship at the end of the school year.

Candidates go through an interview process with professionals in the field before being selected.

"They sit and do an oral interview with them, and doing that kind of lets them feel like being interviewed for a real job," Roberts said. "After that, they decide, rate them and choose who they'd like to see working with them for two weeks."

The internship is divided into two parts, with one week spent working on an ambulance and the other on a fire engine.

Sandoval-Avila said she was able to actively participate in training exercises alongside first responders.

"Like, when we are doing forcible entry, like I'm actually there, like in my turnouts, and doing everything that the interns are doing, and the probationary firefighters are doing, so it's pretty cool and hands-on," she said.

Through the experience, she said she gained a clearer sense of her future goals.

"I've enjoyed being able to go on calls, help out and just be there for people and help them calm down in certain situations when they're all hyped up and people are stressing out because they're scared," she said. "It's been really fun."

Although her internship with the Selma Fire Department has ended, Sandoval-Avila is continuing her training.

Next, she plans to attend an all-women's fire camp with Cal Fire in San Luis Obispo as she works toward a career as a first responder.

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