FRACKVILLE, Pa. — At the Schuylkill County Fire Academy near Frackville, fire trainees are back in class getting instruction on what they need to know to fight fires on a Zoom call.
The academy was shut down this time last year when the pandemic hit.
Those running the academy say by switching the classroom instruction to remote learning, they are now able to get back to the training that was halted last March.
"Without doing this by Zoom, this program would not happen,” said Girardville Fire Chief Frank Zangari, who is the Schuylkill County Fire Academy chairman. "They'll be able to do the classroom work in their own fire stations or some of them in their own homes; they don't even have leave home.”
But first, they needed equipment to be able to teach over Zoom calls; they were able to pay for that through a COVID grant from the state.
"So the Zoom part of enabled us to buy $15,000 worth of equipment in order Zoom throughout the county and have instructors at their own house or on-site here,” said David Sattizahn, the president of the Schuylkill County Volunteer Fire Fighters Association.
By doing training over Zoom, instructors can reach multiple trainees both in and around Schuylkill County.
One class can have 35 trainees.
Once the trainees are finishing with the classroom work, then they'll physically be brought up here to the fire academy for hands-on training.
"Thirty-five students, break them up into four smaller groups, keep everyone social distance, everybody will following CDC guidelines,” said Kevin Sibbett, an instructor with the Pennsylvania Fire Academy, who was offering his services to Schuylkill County’s Fire Academy.
The Schuylkill County Fire Academy is free to fire trainees who live in the county.
The program is funded through the Schuylkill County Commissioners Office.
