COLLEGE RENEWS ANTI-FIRE TRAINING; COURSES TARGET PROFESSIONALS.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

More than a decade after courses related to firefighting careers were discontinued, College of the Canyons has resurrected the program as part of its plan to create a public safety curriculum.

Instruction will begin today in fire science classes, which will be taught by state-certified instructors from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, campus officials said.

``We're going to really work to try to meet the training needs of the Los Angeles County Fire Department,'' said Carter Doran, vice president of instruction and student services at College of the Canyons. ``They're really interested in getting college credit units for their personnel.''

Among the offerings will be three-unit classes called Introduction to Fire Technology, and Fire Behavior and Combustion.

From 1971 to 1986, College of the Canyons taught classes dealing with fire science and fire behavior. The latter program covered fire protection, firefighting technology, wildlife control, forestry, ecology and brush clearance.

In recent months, campus administrators and college district trustees have discussed forming a ``public safety training academy'' that would include courses for current and aspiring firefighters, and for those interested in paramedic or law enforcement careers.

Classes for emergency medical technicians would be offered, along with courses in handling hazardous materials, administration of justice and anti-terrorism strategies.

Many of the classes will be geared toward aspiring firefighters looking to gain an edge in applying for the always-scarce jobs.

``It's always a benefit to have a fire technology degree when applying for a job with the fire department,'' Valenzuela said, noting many departments now require applicants to complete such programs before they will even be considered.

``This is a real good base-line level of knowledge,'' the captain said.

Jobs in fire departments always attract huge numbers of applicants, as was the case in June when the county Fire Department publicized some openings.

``The Los Angeles County Fire Department took 19,109 applications,'' Valenzuela said. ``It had been seven years since we last gave an exam for firefighters.''

The department is still awaiting the results of the 11,000 people who followed through by taking the written exam, Valenzuela said. Those who pass will take a physical agility test. The next levels of screening are background checks, extensive medical examinations and a personal interview.

The select few who remain would be accepted to the county's 16-week fire academy, Valenzuela said. ``Over the next three years, we'll probably hire around 350 (firefighters). We have well over 100 positions vacant now,'' he said.

``Turnover in the fire service is very slow, traditionally. It's not a job that people get and leave to go on to another job,'' Valenzuela said. ``We don't test that often and we don't hire that often.''

Much of the classroom instruction at a department-run fire academy covers the same topics that students can learn in fire service courses at community colleges, the captain said.

Many small departments, he added, can't afford to send a candidate to a fire academy. But completion of a community college program is often qualification enough to get hired as a recruit and then trained on the job.

When students at College of the Canyons' new program aren't being taught in campus classrooms, they'll use the county's Del Valle Training Facility in the Val Verde area.

The topics covered likely will include urban search and rescue, arson investigation, hazardous materials spills and wilderness firefighting, said Capt. Donald Hull, coordinator of the Del Valle Training Facility.

One reason College of the Canyons was a logical site for a fire science curriculum is that the Santa Clarita Valley is home not only to hundreds of police officers and sheriff's deputies, but firefighters as well. Valenzuela estimated about 5 percent of county Fire Department employees live here.

``We have lots of people in public safety who live in the college district,'' said Doran, the college's vice president, noting that local firefighters have been asking the college to offer these courses for years. ``We finally have the budget to expand in that area.''