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Aims fire academy students smiling and posing for a group photo wearing gear

Fire Academy

Earn a Fire Academy Certificate at Aims

Firefighting is more than a career; it’s a challenging and exciting profession where you can make a real difference in people’s lives, whether responding to fires, administering first aid or inspecting for fire hazards. Train with a close-knit community of dedicated, driven experts in the Aims Fire Academy. In one semester of day or night classes, you can get the training you need to become certified to work as a firefighter in Colorado. 

Fire departments set high standards in order to save lives. You’ll be challenged to demonstrate peak physical capabilities along with a drive to be the best. Preventing and putting out fires involves carrying heavy gear in tough conditions while working as a team and keeping a cool head. 

Based at the state-of-the-art Public Safety Institute on the Windsor Campus, Aims has everything you need to prepare for a career in fire. Aims is the home to the only climate-controlled Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT) training and testing center in the state of Colorado. This aptitude test is required to enroll in the Aims Fire Academy and to work as a firefighter.

In just 15 weeks, you'll get 45 hours of classroom work and 135 hours of hands-on training to prepare you to pursue a career in fire service. The Fire Academy will prepare you to take your first step in a firefighting career and take the Firefighter I and Hazmat Colorado practical certification examinations with confidence.

Fire Academy Graduation 2024

Turn your passion for teamwork and making a difference and train for a career as a firefighter

Aims Degree Video - Fire Science - Fire Academy

Rob Willits, Fire Academy instructor, describes the value of the Aims Fire Academy and how it prepares students to succeed as firefighters

How to Apply for Fire Academy

  1. If you’re not already a student, apply to Aims Community College.
  2. Activate your aims account. Activation instructions will be sent to the email account you used to apply.
  3. Download and read the Information packet for Spring 2025. Contact fire.science@aims.edu with any questions you have about the registration process.
  4. Register for your physical assessment. DO NOT REGISTER FOR A CPAT TEST OR PRACTICE SESSION! Scroll down until you see “Aims Pre-enrollment Physical Fitness Assessment” and choose the session you want to attend. You cannot be registered for the fire academy without attending one of these sessions. EXCEPTION: If you have a current CPAT certificate you DO NOT HAVE TO ATTEND ONE. 
  5. Check your Aims e-mail daily for an invitation from our Pathway Advisors to attend a mandatory advising session.
  6. Apply for Financial Aid (if applicable).

Classes fill quickly for this popular program, so be sure to follow the above steps carefully. After completing these steps, you’ll be able to register for your Fire Academy classes either online through your MyAims account or in person at an Aims campus registration site. 

Email fire.science@aims.edu if you have any questions about applying or registering for the Fire Academy program.

Gain Fundamental Skills for a Career in Firefighting

Develop the skills you need to perform with a team in life-threatening and rapidly changing conditions through practice and repetition. This includes the physical skills of how to safely and effectively manage fires and the mental judgment skills and instincts needed to perform under pressure while always taking care of one another. Learn from full-time faculty with decades of experience and adjunct faculty who are still in active service.

Learn firefighting and emergency medical skills such as:

  • Search and rescue
  • Physical fitness
  • Operating gear appropriately
  • Transporting victims to safety
  • Handling hazardous materials
  • Extinguishing fires efficiently

Before enrolling in the Aims Fire Academy, you must meet with a campus advisor.

Prepare for State Firefighter Certification Exams and Earn an EMT Certificate

At the end of the 15-week Fire Academy program, you can earn two certifications from the state of Colorado. Each of these examinations has written and practical components you can complete as part of the Fire Academy at Aims. 

The Aims Firefighter 1 Certificate teaches fundamental firefighting skills and the Hazmat Certificate teaches how to handle hazardous materials. Both of these certificate programs are designed to prepare you for the state certification exams.

Completing these two certificate programs combined with an EMT certificate and passing all certification exams will prepare and qualify you to work as a firefighter. 

Continue Your Firefighter Education With a Fire Science Associate Degree

After completing the Aims Fire Academy, you’ll be well on your way toward earning an associate degree in fire science. A fire science degree can improve your candidacy in applying for work as a firefighter or qualify you for advancement in your fire service career.

Firefighter Career Opportunities

The Fire Academy certificate program is designed to prepare students for entry level positions in the fire service. It also provides training and skills for people employed in fire service who are interested in career advancement. 

Once you complete the Fire Academy, you may seek job opportunities in:

  • Small or large municipal fire departments
  • Fire protection districts
  • Industrial fire departments

Aims Firefighter Training Academy Graduation

graduation
May 2022
Aims Community College proudly presents the Firefighter I Training Academy Graduation.

May 14, 2022
Windsor Campus
CPAT Bay, Room 180

#AimsGrad #AimsCC #ProudToBeAnAardvark

Fire Academy Faculty and Staff

Aims Fire Academy instructors have decades of professional experience in Fire and Emergency Medical Services. Through hands-on, immersive training, they will help you prepare for the rigors of a career as a firefighter. Adjunct faculty are active-duty firefighters who will closely monitor your progress and prepare you for the CPAT.

  • Headshot of John McDougall, Program Director II of the Aims Fire Science program

    John McDougall

    Program Director II, Fire Science
  • Ted Poszywak headshot

    Ted Poszywak

    Instructor, Fire Science
  • Headshot of Ty Albert, CPAT Program Coordinator at Aims Community College

    Ty Albert

    Part-Time: Program Coordinator I, CPAT
  • Robert Willits headshot

    Robert Willits

    Instructor, Fire Science
  • Ronnie Riedel

    Program Manager II, Fire Science