The alarm sounded, and Collin Mellendorf knew it was time to act.

“I heard, ‘working structure fire,’ and all the sirens were going off,” said the Massie Twp. Fire Department volunteer.

With adrenaline pumping and his heart pounding, Collin got on his gear and jumped on the back of the engine. His brother, Austin, a Lieutenant at the Massie Twp. Fire Department, was at the wheel.

Collin, a high school senior, was responding to his first call. It came two weeks after earning his Firefighter Level II certification.

“I started thinking about everything I had learned in class so I would be prepared,” he recalled.

He’s a Lebanon High School senior enrolled in a two-year Fire Science/EMT Basic program through the Warren County Career Center. The program prepares students to take the Firefighter II and EMT Basic state certification exams.

“This is a two-year process to train and certify students as professional firefighters,” explained instructor Tim Keene. “All aspects of firefighting are covered during this training, such as ladders, hose movement, water flow and, most of all, safety.”

Collin and many of his classmates earned their level II certification Dec. 21.

“I had gone to the firehouse and stayed over on a Friday night,” he recalled. “I couldn’t sleep well and woke up Saturday morning with a feeling that something was about to happen. Then I heard the tones going off and I yelled out to everyone – ‘there’s a fire!’”

When they arrived on the scene, Collin saw smoke. He and the other Massie Twp. crew reported to Wayne Twp. Fire Chief Paul Scherer, who was in charge of the scene.

Collin grabbed a flashlight and a pike pole, and his brother handed him the nozzle of the hose.

“Austin hands me the nozzle, and we are in our masks breathing air now, and I knew it was all real,” he said. “Half way up the stairs, the smoke started rolling down. I got on my knees and started feeling around like I had learned in school.”

The firefighters vented the room, checked the attic for flames and popped out the window, which caused the smoke drop and it got dark, Collin said. He sprayed water for about three minutes until the smoke started to clear. They exited the building, checked other areas and finally were able to roll up the hoses and put them away.

“No one was hurt; the residents all got out safely,” he said. “It is a memory that will remain with me all my life.”

Collin, whose father and uncle also were firefighters, grew up around the firehouse. He began doing ride-alongs when he was 12. At 14 he became a cadet at the Union Twp. Fire Department, following in his brother’s footsteps.

Collin said his dream career is now within reach.

He is finishing EMT lessons this semester at WCCC and will take the EMT Basic exam before he graduates from high school. He plans to use his Miami Valley Tech Prep Scholarship to attend Sinclair Community College and finish his Paramedic degree.

“The program at the Career Center definitely helped me a lot,” he said. “I learned to get used to being in a pitch-black environment in our practice house, and I got all the basics I needed, got my feet wet. Going into the real fire, I wasn’t scared at all and I knew what to do.”