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Fire Science Classes at Hocking College Postponed
< < Back toHocking College’s fire science program will not offer courses this semester. The Nelsonville institution was notified last week by the Ohio Department of Emergency Medical Services that course objectives for two fall classes, Firefighter 1 and 2, were not submitted correctly to the agency.
Mel House is the State Director of EMS, which accredits fire service programs in Ohio.
“We have a system that requires each course to be submitted independently of each other, and they put them on one course request, all we asked them to do was separate them, and once they separated them we’d be good to go.”
Dan Sword, education coordinator for Ohio EMS, says he told Hocking about the issue last week.
“They submitted the course request, I contacted them, advised them of what we needed, and we haven’t received any additional course requests since then.”
House also says the agency has not denied any course requests from Hocking based on the content of the coursework. Firefighter training programs must also submit all course requests a week before classes begin.
Meanwhile, Hocking College Director of Public Relations Mike Brown says students will still be able to graduate from the school’s program on time given they complete class requirements.
House says Hocking will not lose their charter to offer the program due to the submission error and the program is still fully accredited.
“The courses Hocking has run, when we’ve checked the credentials, the instructors have all been certified.”
Hocking is one of 68 firefighting training facilities in the state, which are usually located at career centers or community colleges. All facilities must hold a fire charter from the State EMS Department, which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Safety.