‘We put the sweat, the tears, the dirt into it’: High school cadets showcase skills in first-ever LAUSD firefighting competition

Fire academy students from Banning High debrief at the Los Angeles Fire Department headquarters.

Vani Sanganeria

For Yasmin Lopez and Sergio Garcia, the stakes are higher than a tie-breaker. 

At the whistle, Yasmin sprints across a concrete roof on the Los Angeles Fire Department’s fire station headquarters, dragging a 50-foot fire hose to a simulated fire. Her teammate, Sergio, then attaches the nozzle to a fire hydrant, twists open a pressurized valve and runs back to help secure his teammates’ aim of the charged water line.

“We put the sweat, the tears, the dirt into it,” Yasmin said. “And then we made it.” 

Yasmin and Sergio, seniors and fourth-year students in the fire academy at Banning High School in Los Angeles, are part of a team that competed for — and won — a trophy in the Los Angeles Unified School District’s first magnet Muster, a student firefighting competition. 

“Banning is going to go down in history as the first winner of the Muster,” said Sergio, who is the deputy fire chief at Banning High’s fire academy. Through a hard-fought win, Sergio said he learned to “encourage your teammates, even if they’re behind.”

At the Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center earlier this month, teams of 10 high school students, sporting red and blue uniforms stitched with badges representing four fire academies, raced to complete a series of tactical challenges that simulate a real-life fire emergency. 

Jaime Medina, a firefighting instructor in the fire and EMS program at Banning High, said that practice drills on campus and cheers from parents in the bleachers have been additional fuel for his students to improve.  

“It’s a representation of what I’ve taught them,” Medina said. “But it would mean more for me to see the students happy and seeing that their hard work paid off.”

The firefighting and EMS academies at L.A. Unified are part of the district’s career technical pathways, three- to four-year programs preparing students with hands-on experience for jobs in firefighting, emergency medical services and public safety. 

Alexa Alvarez, a junior and deputy chief at the fire and EMS academy at Dorsey Senior High School in Los Angeles, led her team during the third event, in which each student aimed fire hoses at sets of bowling pins across the gym. She remembered when one of her cadets struggled with his confidence during his turn.

“I just kept encouraging him and encouraging him, and he actually got it,” Alexa said. “He may not have gotten a strike, but he got a really good hit, and I was very proud of him.”

Alexa said she plans for Dorsey High to make a comeback next year, but for her, that moment of leadership felt like a win. She described herself as a shy freshman who struggled with her own self-confidence but grew to become a more articulate leader.

“That’s been a skill that I’m definitely going to take to my future,” Alexa said. “To be able to not only push myself, but also motivate and encourage. If I know I can do it, then I can help other people do it.”

As the teams gathered for the fourth event, known as the Kaiser sled, Yasmin felt ready. 

At the whistle, she used her explosive power to swing a 12-pound sledgehammer against a beam of heavy metal, moving the block across a 6-foot path, before handing it to her teammate next in the relay. Yasmin had joined the program as a freshman interested in medicine and plans to become a paramedic and firefighter with LAFD. 

“I instantly fell in love with fire science, the medical services, treating patients CPR and just being here to support the school,” Yasmin said. She learned that “you have to work together in order to extinguish that fire, and I’m going to continue to build on that.”

Andrea Aguirre, a junior and third-year student in the fire academy at Banning High, said that Yasmin has also encouraged her to go out of her comfort zone. Last year, they both joined the fire department’s cadet program, a youth program for prospective firefighters, and cheered each other on at the competition. 

“I did not think I could push myself, competing against guys, and I feel like it builds up your confidence,” Andrea said. 

In the aftermath of the Palisades and Eaton fires

For many students, the Palisades and Eaton fires became a turning point in their path to becoming first responders. Yasmin said the experience made her realize how her training was not for “just a game,” but for “life or death.” 

Andrea said watching firefighters risk their lives for Los Angeles communities strengthened her commitment to public service.  

“They didn’t stop when houses were collapsing, when the wildfires were spreading,” Andrea said. “They kept pushing even though they had families at home waiting for them, which motivated me to continue pushing.” 

The Eaton and Palisades fires in January 2025 were among the most destructive in Los Angeles County history, displacing thousands of students and families, destroying homes and damaging schools and killing 17 people.  

For Medina, the fires also became a teaching moment in fire prevention. Through news reports and documentaries, students in his class analyzed evidence of the cause of each fire, months before residents began accusing regulators of negligence in the Eaton fire.

“The students learned about how these are probably the worst fires that we’ve ever had, so what went wrong?” Medina said. “What were some of the things that could have been done differently? What were the issues outside of the control of the fire department that went wrong?” 

When her school closed, Nancy Altamirano, a senior and fourth-year student in the fire and EMS academy at Wilson High School, organized classmates to collect and distribute food and clothing to families affected by the fires. 

“This program changed our mindset into thinking that we can help wherever we can,” Nancy said. 

‘We all hope to help’

Nancy said she plans to become a firefighter after graduating this spring. She had joined the program as a curious freshman after connecting with the magnet program’s firefighter instructor. 

“She made a deep impact on me because she was a female firefighter, and she taught me everything I know and told me to keep going,” Nancy said. “Now, I’m the loudest when I’m doing fire activities and I’m the most talkative when I’m doing fire activities.”

Like many students in her cohort, Alexa joined the academy to gain hands-on experience with skills that can carry over into other fields, such as medicine. 

“Even if you don’t want to be a firefighter, you’re still gaining the life skills, the communication skills, the leadership skills,” said Alexa, who plans to become an anesthesiologist. “And if you are really looking forward to being hands-on, not wanting to work in a nine-to-five job in an office, think about being a firefighter.”

Medina said that the program also creates an essential workforce pipeline for underserved students who may be interested in serving their own communities. 

“It’s important for the students to represent the areas that they work in,” Medina said. “And I think it’s just my job to guide them in the right direction, because sometimes they don’t know the requirements or the path to get hired.”

Sergio, who plans to become a diesel mechanic for fire trucks, said the competition taught him that camaraderie is an indispensable tool for a first responder.

“Even though we competed today, the fire service isn’t a competition,” Sergio said. “We all did our part. We all hope to be first responders. We all hope to help this community and this economy in a beneficial way in the future.”