LYMAN —  Two live-in students at Goodwins’ Mills Fire and Rescue are looking forward to some hands on learning to supplement their studies.

Nikole St. Germain, 17, from Hudson, New Hampshire and Joshua Walls, 18, of Rygate, Vermont won’t be starting classes toward a degree in fire science until the end of the month, but already, they are learning the ropes of fire fighting.

The two are taking part in Southern Maine Community College’s Public Safety Student Live-In Program. Through the program, students are selected to live in fire stations in one of 17 participating communities. Students live at a fire station for free in exchange for work and on-call hours. Students also get paid for going on calls.

Students must maintain at least a C average, and their work at the fire station can not get in the way of going to class, said St. Germain and Walls.

Both St. Germain and Walls will be taking firefighter training classes before beginning college on Aug. 28.

Goodwins’ Mills Fire and Rescue has three students in total, and the two new students are joining returning student Nicki Fowlie.

Goodwins’ Mills Captain Matthew Duross, who serves as advisor to the live-in students, said the students learn the job in a supervised teaching environment.

Duross said though the students are not seasoned first responders and can not replace them, they assist the department in a number of areas.

“They participate in everything we do here, from day one,” said Duross. 

Both St. Germain and Walls knew from a young age that they wanted to be firefighters.

“I’ve always liked helping people,” said Walls.

St. Germain said she was younger she was told she couldn’t, as a girl, be a fire fighter, however, she wanted to defy that. On her 14th birthday, the day she qualified to become a Fire Explorer, she turned in her paperwork and joined the organization.

Walls said when he was 15 he became a fire cadet, and like St. Germain through Fire Explorers, participated in drills and learned about the field of fire fighting. 

 “It never gets boring because its something new every day,” said Walls. “It’s not your typical desk job.”

St. Germain knew of people through her local Fire Explorer program that had gone on to SMCC’s Public Safety Student Live-In Program, and she thought it sounded like a good opportunity.

Walls said a few years ago, while attending the cadet academy, an instructor encouraged him to apply to a live-in program to accompany his college experience.

“It’s not just classes. It’s real world experience,” said Walls. He’s happy to have secured a position with Goodwins’ Mills, which covers Dayton and Lyman and has about 700 calls a year, as he believes there will be the perfect amount of call time to balance with his school work.

The two moved in on Saturday, and within five hours they were at their first call, putting out a small camp fire on a beach. 

Both said they’ve felt really welcomed by the Goodwins Mills Fire Department and have been included in group meals and an outing across the street to get ice cream over the weekend.

“Here, you can see people really love their job,” said St. Germain. “It’s a real family environment.” She said there’s a strong camaraderie between the firefighters, and some will come to hang out at the station during their off time. 

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.