Hands-on training in Mexico

Students from the Region 9 School of Applied Technology in Mexico participate Thursday in a controlled burn in a trailer on the school grounds. Fire science instructor Jon Longley said the students are qualified to become “full-fledged firefighters” after completing their courses and testing. “We need to keep these programs alive” because there are not enough firefighters in Maine, he said. Longley added there are only nine fire science programs in the state. Rumford Falls Times photo by Marianne Hutchinson