Packets have been mailed! If you have not received yours contact us at (828) 254-1921 ext. 355 to request one. Packets will not be sent out after December 16, 2011.

Course Overview

Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, together with city and county fire departments and the NC Department of Insurance is proud to announce “BFIT”: Basic Firefighter Indoctrination Training, a program designed to train and prepare students to take the Firefighter II Certification Exam for the state of North Carolina.The next BFIT Fire Academy will start March 12, 2012. It will be a day academy running from 07:30am until 5:00pm Monday through Friday for 12 weeks.

This is a comprehensive training program that will be challenging physically, mentally and academically. Student feedback will be provided in the form of test scores and subjective evaluations collected by the instructors. The "BFIT" instructors are excited about providing students with the best skills and knowledge possible to seek employment as fire service employees either in our own region or across the state. Successful participants in the BFIT Academy will be very well prepared to sit for the Office of the State Fire Marshal's test for Firefighter II and Hazardous Materials Operations certifications.

To apply for the Fire Academy, complete the following steps:

Packets have been mailed! If you have not received yours contact us at (828) 2541921 ext. 355 to request one. Packets will not be sent out after December 16, 2011.

Contact the secretary at the Hemlock Building (828) 254-1921 ext. 355 to leave your personal contact information.You will be sent an application packet in the mail prior to December 16, 2011. Application to the BFIT Fire Academy is a competitive process. Applicants will be scored based on reading comprehension, physical ability, and acceptance committee review. Acceptance into the academy will be based on the highest scores. All applicants will be notified if they have been accepted or not by February 15, 2012.

The application consists of:

       1. A physical evaluation (in packet) performed by a physician or clinic.

       2. Two references. (No longer required for 2012).

       3. Take the TABE reading comprehension test. The TABE test is offered on the Asheville Campus in the Pines Building, room 213, Monday through Thursday 8:30-11:30am, 12:00-4:30pm and from 5:00-8:30pm. It is also administered on Fridays, 8:30-12:00. If you have a college degree, or results from A-B Tech's Accuplacer test, you may use any one of these in place of the TABE test. Be sure to attach a copy to the application packet.

Complete the Fire Academy application packet and return it to the AB Tech Fire Service Continuing Education on January 14, 2012 as the packet states.

A physical agility test will be conducted the day of the application deadline,            January 14, 2012 . The physical agility test consists of:

    1. 1.5  mile run - scoring is based on time with the maximum time of 15 minutes. 

    2. Sit-ups - scoring is based on quantity with 25 as the minimum. (I minute or less)

    3. Squats - scoring is based on quantity with 25 as the minimum. (I minute or less)

    4. Push-ups - scoring is based on quantity with 25 as the minimum. (I minute or less)

    5. To take the physical agility test you must attend the January 14, 2012 meeting. The agility test will be held that morning following packet review. Contact Tommy Brooks at tbrooks@abtech.edu or John Witherspoon at jwitherspoon@abtech.edu in A-B Tech's Fire Service Continuing Education Office, or call 828-254-1921 Ext. 139 with questions or concerns. (Applicants must have physical exam prior to agility test.)

The Davis Dotson Combat Challenge, as described by a BFIT graduate:

When you hear that name, you’re about to face one of the toughest physical and mental challenges of your firefighting career. It will literally take your breath away.

A firefighter dons about 50 pounds of personal protective gear including a Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus and starts by carrying almost 50 pounds of fire hose up several flights of stairs. At the top of the stairs, the firefighter drops the hose bundle and pulls up a second roll of hose at the end of a long rope. Back down the stairs, still carrying the original bundle of hose, the firefighter simulates a forcible entry by pounding a sledge hammer against a five-foot railroad tie, moving the heavy wooden beam five feet along a steel track. By this time, only a couple of minutes have passed and your strength and breath are failing, but there’s more!

The firefighter race-walks about 140 feet, picks up the nozzle of a charged (full of water) one-and-three-quarters-inch hose line and advances the hose 100 feet, opening and closing the nozzle at the end of the advance. After that, the hardest part of the challenge is staring you in the face – the dummy drag. The firefighter must drag a 185-pound mannequin (nicknamed Rescue Randy) 50 feet. Once you cross the line, you don’t know whether to throw up, pass out, or cry – but you’re finished and you just hope you’ve completed the challenge in under seven minutes – the minimum requirement for graduation. ~ Bentley Andrews