Young Firefighter Becomes Department’s Only EMT
Blake Barrett of Noel, who just turned 18, has earned his state emergency medical technician certification and has his firefighting career all planned out.
He just graduated high school and, while finishing his course work, he attended a semester-long EMT class at Crowder College in Jane. Now state certified as an EMT, he has two more tests to take before he will be nationally certified, he said.
Blake is the son of Noel Fire Chief Brandon Barrett, and — as of turning 18 — Blake is a member of the Noel Volunteer Fire Department. Soon he will start working toward an associate’s degree in fire science at Crowder College.
“He’s the only certified EMT we have,” his father said. “Other guys have taken it and let it expire.”
Blake has known since childhood that he wanted to work for a fire department.
“I wrote a thing in first grade that said I wanted to do this. I’ve grown up around it quite a bit. There’s a lot of (reasons). I just like helping people,” he said.
Asked what other jobs he had considered, he said he had thought about going into the military and fighting fire in the military. “It’s always been fire,” he said. Brandon said he is nervous but excited about his son’s future.
“Like any parent, I’m nervous about what he’ll come in contact with and what he’ll see in the future, but he’s got a pretty level head on his shoulders, and he’s a smart kid. I know it’s been a lifelong dream for him, and I know he’s done everything he can to follow his lifelong dream. He’s always been a very well-driven,
goal-oriented type of kid. He’s always worked to achieve his goals, that’s for sure.”
Asked how he likes working with his father, Blake said, “It can be fun sometimes, but sometimes it’s not because I always have to do a little more than everyone else.”
Blake’s next step will be to complete his associate’s degree and then become a paramedic, which he can also do at Crowder College. He plans to get some experience at either Bella Vista or Bentonville Fire Department before moving on to a big department, hopefully in Dallas. He has already toured some fire stations in Dallas. He hopes to work his way up to battalion chief and work a truck. Brandon explained truck companies are more involved in search-and-rescue efforts, whereas engine companies are more involved in putting out fires.
“He pretty much has it planned out,” Brandon said.