Sterling Fire Department’s new cadet program gives high school students hands-on training alongside firefighters while preparing them for paid, on-call positions

By Jeannine Otto
Daily Gazette

STERLING, Ill. — The Sterling Fire Department’s new cadet program is up and running.

Sterling Fire Chief David Northcutt introduced the first two cadets of the new program at the Sept. 8 Sterling City Council meeting.

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Anna Propheter, a senior at Newman Central Catholic High School in Sterling, and Emmanuel Arreola, a senior at Sterling High School, are training alongside Sterling firefighters as part of the cadet program.

Propheter’s interest and enthusiasm during a ride-along with Sterling firefighters was the impetus for forming the program.

“She did a ride-along with us. We have high school students doing ride-alongs all the time. But she showed enough interest in the fire service, in Sterling Fire, that we said maybe we should start a cadet program,” Northcutt said.

The cadet program will prepare the cadets to become certified as paid, on-call firefighters with Sterling Fire.

“You can’t be a paid on-call until you are 18, and you can’t be a full-time firefighter until you are 21, in the state of Illinois. So between 18 and 21, they could be paid, on-call with us,” Northcutt said.

The cadets train with Sterling firefighters twice a week or as the students’ schedules allow.

“The directions for the firefighters on shift is that the cadets are integrated into the shift. They are treated as one of the crew. They get the experience of living the life of a full-time firefighter and they train with the guys when they go out to do training,” Deputy Fire Chief Brandon Monical said.

Monical said Sterling, like other departments, is looking at ways to bring qualified candidates into the fire service.

“Every fire department everywhere is looking at how they can recruit quality people. This is something we came up with. Hopefully, we can keep these good, strong candidates and we can work them through the pipeline and eventually work them in to fill the paid, on-call spots,” Monical said.

Starting with two cadets means that the cadets can get more one-on-one training.

“We wanted them to have that one-on-one time instead of bringing in six or eight people once a week or once a month,” Northcutt said.

The department also is using the two cadets’ input to shape the program.

“We want to tweak the program and make sure it’s good. This is fluid. We have the shell of a program that we think will work. If we get feedback from them or from the staff that we need to change this, then we will,” Northcutt said.

Northcutt said Arreola and Propheter have the qualities that spell success in the fire service. Both are honor students and involved in sports and activities at their respective schools.

“Both of them, their interest, their ability, their attitude about it, both of them want to be with Sterling Fire, not just be a firefighter; they want to be with Sterling Fire,” Northcutt said.

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