When the spring semester rush to find housing for next fall hits, many SIUC students will search frantically to find a clean, well-kept and affordable place to live.

But an area fire station is offering free housing for students interested in fire service career training.

Williamson County Airport Station No. 6 of the Williamson County Fire Protection District has four openings for SIUC students in its College Student Firefighter Program.

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The program helps us and the students at the same time, Lindell Coriasco, Williamson County Fire Protection district chief, said. We need people to fight fires and maintain the equipment in our station, and the students need a place to live.

Coriasco said the dorm in the station is just like home. There is a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and laundry room for the students’ use. The station is about 15 miles from campus.

Students in the program must be actively enrolled in a local college or university, carrying a minimum of 12 credit hours. The students will volunteer for the fire district as long as they live in the facility.

This program began four years ago, Coriasco said six SIUC students have gone through the program so far. Of those six, four have furthered their training as firefighters, and two are employed as full-time firefighters.

Students in the volunteer program must complete an in-house modular Firefighter II course. The course includes 240 hours of classroom and hands-on training, said Don Swiatkowski, assistant fire chief of Station No. 6.

The hands-on training includes ladder work, ax work, hose work and even training inside a burning house, Swiatkowski said. Basically they will do everything a regular firefighter would do.

The volunteers train for three hours a day on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

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Williamson County has about 84 volunteers at the six stations in the county. Station No. 6 requires 12 volunteers because of the airport.

Most of the volunteers have jobs outside of their work at the station. Students enrolled in the firefighter program can have a part-time job.

Part of the application process requires the applicant to write a one-page essay on why he or she wishes to become part of the program.

Applicants selected for the program will be notified by mail, and those not selected will be placed on a one-year waiting list. New openings will be filled from this list.

We are looking for students who are truly interested in going though the firefighter training, Swiatkowski said, not just someone looking for a free place to live.

Factoid:Deadline for applications is Monday, Jan. 5. To receive an application and additional information, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:Don Swiatkowski, Assistant Fire Chief, P.O. Box 262 Energy, IL 62933.