Colin Fredrick hadn't considered being a firefighter until he was approached about joining the first group of the Mandan Rural Fire Department Junior Firefighter program.

"I just got asked if I ever thought about it," Fredrick, 18, said. "I said I'd try anything once."

Fredrick, a graduate of Mandan High School, was the first member of the junior firefighter program to be voted in as an adult member of the Mandan Rural Fire Department, said Craig Sjoberg, one of this year's instructors for the program. He said Fredrick also was recently accepted as a volunteer for the Mandan Fire Department.

Matt Ferderer, another of the initial five firefighters, is going to college to be a paramedic and will complete a six-month probationary period to be an adult member of Mandan Rural very soon, Sjoberg said.

Jesse Sjoberg, 17 and Craig's son, is now a senior at Mandan High School. He is the only one of the five junior firefighters from the first class to remain in the program. Jesse Sjoberg said his dad was usually on volunteer fire and ambulance squads when he was growing up, so joining was natural for him.

The Mandan Rural Fire Department Junior Firefighter program, now in its second year of operation, is open to 16- or 17-year-olds with an interest in firefighting. The department chooses five new juniors each spring to be a part of the program, which seeks to help train teens to be firefighters and get them involved in volunteer services.

Craig Sjoberg said community members are often waiting at the scene to help at summer grass fires. Area farmers and ranchers bring trucks loaded with more than 6,000 gallons of water and farm implements to stop blazes from spreading, he said. In November 2004, the Mandan Rural Fire Department wanted to find a way to give back to the supportive community, so members of the department spent 320 hours developing North Dakota's first organized junior firefighter program.

Craig Sjoberg said the department studied junior programs across the country to develop their program, and other departments were more than happy to let Mandan Rural use their bylaws to develop their own. The department presented their program to the North Dakota Firefighter's Association in June 2005, he said.

Lois Hartman, executive director of the North Dakota Firefighter's Association, said Mandan Rural also researched state and federal child labor laws, talked to North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance, and studied the North Dakota High School Activities Association participation guidelines while writing the junior program standard operating procedures.

Craig Sjoberg said the junior program has a no-tolerance policy regarding drug and alcohol use and criminal arrests.

"They did an awesome job," Hartman said.

Hartman said she has copied Mandan Rural's program and sent it to at least a dozen departments in North Dakota.

While Craig Sjoberg said there are many advantages to the program, two jump out for their immediate effects on the department.

First, while junior volunteers cannot do hazardous or dangerous jobs, they can help out at fires by serving in support roles, Craig Sjoberg said. The department has an "empty seat" policy for the juniors - if there's an empty seat in a firetruck and the adult driving does not think another adult is coming, the junior can ride along and help out in any way he can, Craig Sjoberg said.

"The older fellas will assume the more dangerous facets,"he said, adding that having the juniors take on some logistical tasks at fires can "reduce the risk for heart attack on us old guys."

Second, the department hopes the program will instill the spirit of volunteerism in youth. Ideally, they hope the juniors will end up as regular members of Mandan Rural after they turn 18, but if they move on, hopefully they will take lessons from their beginnings at Mandan Rural with them, Craig Sjoberg said.

The first group of junior firefighters seems to have caught the spirit of volunteerism - three of the five are still actively involved in volunteering.

"It's really fun, and it makes you feel good that you help out other people around the community," said Kyle Gustin, 19. Gustin was already an adult when the junior firefighter program started, but he attended the junior training along with the five juniors, Craig Sjoberg said.

The first class of five was organized on May 9, 2005, and they began training the first week of June. Then from September through March, the juniors took Firefighter I, which is the initial firefighting class.

After Firefighter I, firefighters can take Firefighter II, Craig Sjoberg said. He said some departments, such as Mandan Rural, require both classes to be firefighters.

The second group of five began meeting on May 7. They will take practical and written Firefighter I tests on March 17, 2007.

The class and tests junior firefighters take are not watered-down versions of adult firefighting instruction.

This year, juniors are taking Firefighter I with members of the North Dakota National Guard's 81st Civil Support Team, as well as with aspiring adult members of the Bismarck Rural Fire Department, Mandan Rural Fire Department and Mandan Fire Department. The juniors in the class stand out from other the others, because they wear bright, lime green T-shirts with their last names on the back.

Capt. Shannon Horton of the 81st said members of his team get to mentor the junior firefighters, as well as "remember where we came from."

Members of the 81st, many of whom have served time in combat, start the class off each week with a lesson in leadership, Craig Sjoberg said.

The 22 members of the 81st are trained to respond to disasters and terrorism, said 1st Lt. Dave Jablonsky. He said only the governor or the National Guard general can call them out.

Jablonsky, the survey team leader for the 81st, said taking the class with the juniors and members of fire departments is helpful for the team.

"We need to understand exactly how (fire departments) operate," he said. "Everyone speaks their own language."

During classes, members of different departments have to pair up to practice tasks. Craig Sjoberg said it is one way to train firefighters for mutual aid situations where other departments assist another department at a fire or other situation.

"The mutual training goes a long way to provide for a more efficient, effective manner of service to the community," he said.

The knowledge of the older members of the class also helps advance the skills of the juniors, he said.

Last year's class has gotten to go on a variety of calls, including a large number of grass fires during the drought-stricken summer, vehicle accidents and hazardous materials situations.

Gustin, whose father, Lynn, is the chief of the Mandan Rural Fire Department, said being part of the fire department has changed how he looks at the world.

"When you're out there in the field, your eyes really open," he said.

Mandan Rural is not the only volunteer department with members younger than 18, Hartman said. Craig Sjoberg said some departments have had to start finding junior members to strengthen departments burdened by outmigration and lower numbers of people able to volunteer.

However, Mandan Rural is the only organized program with separate bylaws and expectations laid out for younger members, Hartman said.

Craig Sjoberg said the amount of time that goes into setting up a structured junior program is likely a deterrent for most volunteer departments. Also, Mandan's geographic location made it easier for Mandan Rural members to talk to state and federal agencies located in Bismarck. He said such meetings would be a "logistical nightmare" for small, volunteer agencies in other parts of the state.

Hartman said having an organized junior firefighter program sets up a better framework for how things should be done concerning younger members and informs departments about what minors can legally do.

"You set a little higher standard," she said.

Craig Sjoberg hopes the junior firefighters come out of the program with more than just practical skills necessary to fight fires and respond to emergency situations. He wants the juniors to come out of the program with the emotional, mental and physical characteristics of being firefighters.

The program teaches "life skills - lots of them," he said.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@;bismarcktribune.com.)