By CAROLINE CARMICHAEL / Staff Writer

Fairview Volunteer Fire and Rescue is hosting a Fire Fighter II training class beginning April 16, between 6 and 10 p.m.

“Fire Fighter II is a 40-hour class that’s 40 hours spent in combination of the classroom and on the drill field,” Fire Chief Joe Cole said. “It is a continuation of Fire Fighter I.”

Participants must be Fire Fighter I certified or be a certified volunteer firefighter, Cole said.

The program is through the Alabama Fire College in Tuscaloosa.

“This course consists of topics designed to give the student more knowledge of fire ground situations, so that he/she can make basic evaluations of safety problems and assume leadership roles in carrying out interior attack and search operations,” according to the organization’s website.

Cost for participation in the program is $40.

Cole said that for all intents and purposes, the in-house course provided by Fairview delivers the same training as the Tuscaloosa facility for a more affordable price.

“If you go to Tuscaloosa and take it through them at their campus, it’s about $245 for an in-state student,” Cole said. “We use the same book. The instructors hold instructor certificates and the Fire Fighter II certification through the fire college already.”

Cole said 2018 is set to be a busy year for training.

“We just completed the 160 (program) recently, and this is continuing on in addition to the personnel becoming better-trained firefighters,” Cole said.

The volunteer fire department also received points on its Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating, Cole said.

ISO evaluates fire departments and provides statistical information on risk. Fire departments are ranked on a 10 to 1 scale, with 10 being the worst and 1 being the best.

“The next time the ISO evaluation comes up, hopefully it’s going to lower our ISO rating — which is the thing that most people are focused on, because that helps people save money on their home owners insurance,” Cole said.

Participants can register for the Fire Fighter II course by visiting AlabamaFireCollege.org and locating the Fairview event on the “Courses This Month” sidebar. For the sake of time and convenience, day-of registration is permitted but not advised.

Fairview requests that registrants inform the department of their interest in order to account for proper seating and space.

Fairview Volunteer Fire and Rescue can be reached at (205) 287-1743 and is located at 9597 County Road 37 in Clanton.