SUPERIOR — An opportunity in fire service is available for Mineral County teens thanks to one Superior High School student.
16 and 17-year-olds can sign up to train with the Superior Volunteer Fire Department experiencing calls and learning how to serve their community.
After working with the U.S. Forest Service and seeing his father serve the Superior community as fire department chief, Anthony Dodd decided his path was to make a career in the fire service.
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"Got to do work with the fire crew and I was really inspired by working with them and so I asked my dad if there's any way I could join them," Anthony Dodd shared.
Scott Dodd says that seeing his son make fire a generational pursuit makes him proud.
"The earlier we can get people exposed to it and see if it's something that they enjoy or want to do for a lifetime or even just for a year, really puts everybody in a better spot," Scott told MTN.
Volunteers play an important role in keeping the area safe in smaller communities and that's especially true in fire service where volunteers make up a significant portion of firefighters.
The National Fire Protection Association reports that as of 2020, volunteers comprise about 65 percent of firefighters nationwide.
To make sure his community can stay protected, Anthony chose to revamp Superior's junior firefighter training — a program that has existed in a limited capacity but really took shape thanks to Anthony's leadership.
Anthony worked with insurance, the school board, and many other agencies to make sure his program was safe.
Junior firefighters go through lifesaving training, work around the station, and even help out on calls.
"For the juniors it's hard. There's a lot of restrictions and some of the jobs they're doing seem very tedious, but I think they're the most important jobs and it's the most rewarding when you get to be a part of the crew," Anthony detailed.
Anthony presented the junior firefighter program to the tenth and eleventh grade students at Superior High School last week.
"The goal of the assembly was really to inspire them and hopefully spark something for them that sparked for me," Anthony told MTN.
Superior High School principal Angie Gray says Anthony's initiative is making an impact on the school's curriculum.
"We're actually talking about can we fit in a CPR and first aid component to one of our classes," Gray explained.
Anthony already has a few sign-ups which is helping with his overall goal of strengthening rural fire teams and getting youth involved in their communities.
"Being a volunteer in a small community...I feel it's more important to be able to be well-rounded as a community and work with everybody," Anthony said.
Applications can be found at Superior High School, at the fire station or by emailing anthonydodd06@gmail.com.
