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Flames curled around a white 1997 Buick as the airbags exploded, sounding like gunshots. The tires popped next, sending metal pieces flying. Four men battled the blaze, shooting water through a firehose while Captain Michael Chapman looked on.
By the end of the day, he said, this training academy of the Los Angeles County Fire Department will torch 10 cars.
Not only is the training free for these firefighters-in-training — they also get paid. They’re in an apprenticeship program, which means they learn on the job .
It’s a model that’s gaining new attention . During his 2018 campaign, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would create 500,000 new apprenticeships in the decade after taking office. Firefighting is the most popular so far, with nearly 18,000 apprentices joining programs since Newsom’s inauguration in January 2019, according to Adele Burnes, the deputy chief of the state’s Division of Apprenticeship Standards. As of this month, she said the state has registered more than 180,000 apprentices across all industries in the last five years.