54 become certified during RCC’s 2025 Fire & Rescue College
More than fifty first responders became certified this year during Robeson Community College’s 51st Southeastern Fire and Rescue College in classes which included NIMS 300, NIMS 400, Firefighter Ops 9, Firefighter Mayday and Survival, and Hazmat Operations.
Jason Howard, Tommy Howard Jr., Bryant Kemp, Maurice Locklear, Farren Moody, James Overton, Thomas Brown, Anthony Coleman, Brian Erickson, Christopher Farrell, Austin Hunsinger, Mikayla Jones, John Maness, Arron Taylor-Wood, David Velazquez, Amanda Whiteside, Craven Gore Jr., Christopher Hunt, Sekiya Hunt, Jonathan Juhl, Jody King, Michael Laviner, Alaina Malcom, Joseph Simmons, William Threatt, John Wilson, Saylah Arnold , Austin Clark, Alex Clute, Celena Davis-Rice, Anna Duncan, Joseph Hardee, Dade Hauser, Timothy Hauser, Timothy Jones, Colton Russell, DeVin Sands, Joshua Stubbs, Johnathon Church, Tara Gentry, Jeffery Harris, Joseph Hess, Matthew Kearny, Bryson Lambert, Michael Lewis, Dustin Matthew, Spenser Padrick, Kennedy Rife, Robert Wilson, Malachi George, Bradley Gooden, Logan Hester, Micah Locklear, Jordan McNeill, Chip Powell, Rodney Creason, Jaquelyne Duarte, and Theresa Hoernle all earned certifications during RCC’s 2025 fire and rescue college.
The conference attracted firefighters, law enforcement officers, and emergency rescue personal, with a total of 344 students representing departments from all over the state, including those in Robeson County.
Even though attendance was down slightly from the previous year, organizers say the event was still a major accomplishment.
“The conference was a great success this year even though our numbers were down,” Steve West, the director of fire rescue training said. “I personally visited each class… and everyone was satisfied about the conference.”
Many attending the conference have made it an annual tradition, like Shane Prevatte.
EV and Lithium Batteries Training at Robeson Community College during the Fire & Rescue College event.
“I’ve been attending for the last 7 – 8 years,” Prevatte said. “It’s something that I always like to go to.”
Prevatte, 38, has served as a firefighter for the last 12 years with the Allentown Volunteer Fire Department, and works at the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office as a Seargent at the Detention Center.
“It was a really good experience this year,” Prevatte said, who signed up for the class on EV and Lithium Batteries. “There are more and more of them on the road nowadays, so I wanted to learn more about electric vehicles…. I loved the class; it was really good.”
“They brought out different electric vehicles from local dealerships for us to look at,” Prevatte said. “Our instructor showed us the different places to find the cutoff switch, what wires not to cut as it could electrocute you and kill you.”
“The teacher did an outstanding job,” Prevatte added.
Shane Prevatt, second row from back in the blue and white hat, listens intently to the lecture provided in the EV and Lithium Batteries course held at RCC during the 51st Fire & Rescue Conference
Anna Duncan, 22, has also made attending RCC’s fire conference a yearly ritual.
“I go every year, this is my third year attending,” Duncan said. “This year I took Firefighter Ops 9.”
Duncan is originally from Beaufort and says that soccer is what initially brought her to Robeson County.
“I played soccer at UNCP for 5 years, run cross country,” Duncan stated.
Now married and residing in Red Springs, she is continuing her education at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
“I’m working on completing my master’s degree in public administration at the UNCP,” she said.
Anna hopes to land a job at a local Fire & Rescue squad as an Advanced EMT, specializing in critical care, and says the training she received during the convention was top notch and a lot of fun.
“I enjoyed it, I learned a lot from my instructors and classmates,” Duncan said. “It was good to be able to learn from other people from different departments…. I loved the live burning exercises, being able to train in live fire, that is valuable experience.”
Duncan took part in fire simulations at the burn towers and the car which are located at the Emergency Services Training Grounds, seven miles east of the main campus in Lumberton.
“My class went really smooth, they brought in 4 instructors with the live burn,” Duncan said. “I’m always grateful for a chance to train and I look forward to it when we train with live fire in a controlled environment, which prepares you for realistic scenarios and is just something that will help you as you work in the field.”
If you missed the 2025 fire and rescue conference, don’t worry, it will return again in 2026 from March 18 to March 22, so save the date! Also, Robeson Community College offers training throughout the year at its location off South Roberts Avenue. To learn more and see upcoming classes, please visit https://www.robeson.edu/coned/fireedu/ or contact Steve West at 910-272-3329 for more information.
Anna Duncan (left) trains with fellow firefighters and first responders during the Firefighter Ops 9 class at the 2025 Southeastern Fire and Rescue College held at Robeson Community College.
