New York City Offers Firefighting 101 at New High School

Program Urges Minority Students to Mull Careers With the Fire Department

New York

At age 14, Cesar Guzman is determined to become a firefighter.

“I want to save people,” he says. “I’ll get respect.” Also, he hopes that landing a career with the Fire Department of New York might get him out of Brooklyn, as it did for a friend of the family. “It made a life for him,” Cesar says. “He’s living in Long Island in a house and he’s happy.”

Cesar Guzman’s dreams aren’t the mere musings of a teenager. He’s one of 104 students attending the FDNY High School for Fire and Life Safety, which opened here in September and is jointly run by the city’s fire department...